MEPIS 11.0.12 Users Manual

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Welcome!

Welcome to the world of Linux and MEPIS. If you have just booted the MEPIS Linux LiveDVD or LiveUSB, you have the opportunity to explore some of the
features of a whole new computer operating system before you decide to install it! Exploration, evaluation, comparison. . .decision. So far
you have taken the first solid step toward a better computing experience, so enjoy exploring MEPIS Linux 11!

A Note from The Architect of MEPIS

Relax—you're among friends. The MEPIS community includes tens of thousands of people like you who want to work and play on
their computer free of blank blue screens, viruses, and spyware—while paying only a fair and modest price for all of the software they need.

MEPIS Linux is intended to be easy to try, easy to install, and easy to use. This guide is meant to be your roadmap for getting
started with MEPIS Linux. We show you how to boot from DVD, how to test drive MEPIS Linux, how to install on your hard drive, and how to start
using MEPIS Linux as a complete replacement for your current operating system.

You'll find lots of helpful people at the MEPIS forum sites listed in Section 11, along with many other resources to get you started.

If you are a developer, you have the freedom to remaster a customized version of MEPIS Linux. We have people who have done that.
In fact one of them did such a nice job of converting MEPIS Linux into a distro to use for old computers with low processing power and RAM by
today's standards, that we invited him to become a member of the official MEPIS family, with his antiX Operating System.

But it doesn't matter who you are. From computer professional to first-time computer user, we have tried to make an operating system for
you. . . for free. . .for whatever you need to accomplish.

Good luck and have fun!
— Warren

1.1: About MEPIS Linux

MEPIS Linux 11 is based on Debian 6.0, codename "Squeeze," and is a ready-to-use desktop operating system for PC computers that have Intel or AMD processors with either 32 or 64 bit architecture, and for Apple computers with Intel processors. It is designed to work side-by-side with Microsoft's Windows or Apple's Mac OS X in a dual-boot configuration, or to replace your old Operating System entirely.

MEPIS Linux 11 comes in two different versions:

MEPIS Linux 32 for 32-bit architecture

MEPIS Linux 64 for 64-bit architecture

The 32-bit version will work for 64-bit architecture and may actually be better for many users, since some software is only available in 32-bit and might require some effort to make it run on a 64-bit system. The main advantage of 64-bit is that it is faster for a few applications and possibly more on the cutting edge of technology. For system requirements and recommendations, please consult Section 3.1.

MEPIS LLC and MEPIS Linux were founded by industry veteran Warren Woodford in November 2002 to create a user-friendly Linux version that “just works” based on Debian Linux. The first release was in May 2003. In July 2006, MEPIS transitioned with the release of 6.0 from using Debian packages to using packages and repositories from Ubuntu 6.06LTS (“Dapper Drake”).

A major upgrade (6.5) came out in April 2007, introducing for the first time 64-bit and Mactel support. A few months
later, anticapitalista, a member of the European MEPIS community, released his well-received antiX based on a
MEPIS Linux core and optimized for old and low-spec computers.

In Version 7.0, released in December, 2007, MEPIS Linux switched its base to a combination of MEPIS packaged binaries, based on Debian and Ubuntu source code, combined with a Debian Stable OS core and extra packages from Debian package pools. As the developer explains: “By using the latest
Debian and Ubuntu source code for building user applications, we can provide the best latest versions of the applications users want the
most. And by building on top of a Debian Stable core, we can provide a release that has the stability and long life that users
want.” The emergence of a Community Packaging Team has allowed users to remain current with application releases while retaining the signature stability.

MEPIS development continues to track Debian development. MEPIS 8.0 was released in February 2009 as "Lenny" became the new Debian Stable 5.0, in March 2010 MEPIS 8.5 was released integrating the new KDE 4.3 desktop environment. Now MEPIS 11 is released using the latest updates available from Debian Stable 6.0 and the KDE 4.5 desktop.

If you use MEPIS Linux, please consider paying for your copy by contributing or shopping at the store.

1.2: Support

Support source

The primary source of support for non-commercial MEPIS Linux users lies with the Community:

Users Manual. Written by MEPIS users who volunteer for the Community Documentation project, this excellent resource is the place to start. It covers all the basics of installation, configuration, troubleshooting, basic/advanced use, and more. It's on the MEPIS LiveDVD, the installed desktop, and online at the Forum (below) and the MEPIS home page.

Wiki. Continually edited and updated, the Wiki provides more detailed information on general and specific topics. Subject categories and a powerful search engine make it easy to find what you are looking for. Since all contributions come from volunteers with limited time, the Wiki is not always and everywhere up-to-date.

Forum. Several years' worth of searchable discussions provide a wealth of detail on user's concerns. Questions (requires registration) are quickly answered by volunteer members of the world-wide MEPIS users community, and the only stupid question is the one you don't ask. Help with versions earlier than MEPIS 7 can be found in the
Archives.

Particularly difficult hardware questions that are not answered from these sources can be submitted to Warren at mepis.org; ask at the Forum for details.

Support cycle

How long will your MEPIS Linux 11 continue to have support? The answer to this question depends on the type of support you mean:

Hardware. Hardware is supported in the kernel, where continuous development goes on. Very new hardware may not yet be supported, and very old hardware, though still supported, may no longer be sufficient for the demands of the desktop and applications.

Desktop. KDE4 is a resource-intensive desktop under very active development. The version shipped with MEPIS 11 has already had many improvements and is considered stable.

Applications. Applications continue to be developed after the release of MEPIS 11, meaning that the shipped versions will get older as time passes. In MEPIS Linux, the problem is addressed through a combination of sources: Debian, Warren, and the Community Packaging Team. There will come a point in a few years where it will be increasingly difficult to update applications for older MEPIS versions because the supporting applications have changed so much. The individual user will have to decide when the problem has become critical.

Security. Security updates from Debian will cover MEPIS 11 users well into the foreseeable future.

Finally, it is important to remember that the number of Community members maintaining installations of earlier versions continually decreases. Although you may still find people able to help with MEPIS 8, few are now available for MEPIS 7 and before.

Bugs

Bugs are errors in a computer program or system that produce incorrect results or abnormal behavior. All software contains them, and the developers upon whom MEPIS Linux relies work hard to correct them. MEPIS has no formal structure or mechanism of bug reporting, but relies on the following informal system:

Self help: do a web search on the exact error message, or on a string of words that includes the program and the type of error (e.g., "k3b cd rip failure").

Wiki consultation: search the Wiki for the category of error you are seeing (e.g., "sound not working").

Forum post: report the bug you are seeing in the appropriate place (e.g., Video) on the MEPIS Community Forum, making sure to supply the MEPIS version you are using and any relevant hardware specifications (e.g., "nVidia GeForce 8100").

Email Warren: when the bug has not been solved by Forum members and is in an area that Warren works (such as hardware, the MEPIS Assistants, etc.), then describe it to Warren in an email to dev AT mepis DOT org. Provide as much technical detail as possible so that he can try to duplicate it.

1.3: This Users Manual

The Users Manual is the product of large group of volunteers from the MEPIS user community. As such, it will inevitably contain errors and omissions, although we have worked hard to minimize them. Please send us suggestions for improvement using one of the methods listed in the left panel. Updates will be available on a regular basis through the standard package procedures.

The Manual is designed to walk new users through the steps of obtaining a copy of MEPIS Linux 11, installing it, configuring it
to work with one's own hardware, and putting it to daily use. It aims to provide a readable general introduction to MEPIS Linux for the new user, and purposely gives preference to graphical tools. For detailed or infrequent topics, the user should consult the Wiki or the Forum.

Some terms that might be unfamiliar to some readers appear in green. Hover your mouse over one of these words for a brief definition, or click on it to go to the Glossary entry for that term. Your browser's back button will return you to your original spot. Or right-click on the term's link and choose to open in a new window or tab.

2.1: Getting MEPIS

Introduction

The MEPIS Linux LiveDVD or LiveUSB boots your computer without accessing the hard disk. It copies a virtual filesystem into RAM that acts as the center of a temporary operating system for the computer. When you end your LiveDVD session, everything about your
computer is back to the way it was, unchanged.

This provides a number of benefits:

It enables you to run MEPIS Linux on your computer without installing it.

It allows you to determine whether MEPIS Linux is compatible with your hardware.

It helps you to get a feel for how MEPIS Linux works and to explore some of its features.

You can decide whether MEPIS Linux is what you want without permanently affecting your current system.

Running from the LiveDVD also has some disadvantages:

Because the entire system is operating from a combination of RAM and the DVD, MEPIS Linux will require more RAM and run more slowly in a LiveDVD
session than if it were installed on the hard drive.

Some unusual hardware that requires specialized drivers or custom configuration may not work in a LiveDVD session where permanent
files can't be installed.

Installing and removing software is not possible because MEPIS Linux runs from a read-only medium.

How to get a MEPIS LiveDVD

If you don't have a copy of MEPIS Linux 11 on a DVD already, here are the ways to obtain a copy.

Buy From MEPIS

The advantages of buying your LiveDVD from MEPIS include ease of setup and—with a subscription—early access to upgrades and new versions.

Get the latest version of MEPIS Linux on DVD, shipped to you.

Pay a subscription fee at the MEPIS Store and download directly from our FTP server.

Free Download

You can download any testing or final release versions of MEPIS Linux for free from one of the public mirror sites listed on the page linked below.
Sometimes the mirrors are a bit behind the MEPIS Subscription download site, and some mirrors get out-of-date from time to time. If you can't find
a particular version at one site, it may be available at one of the other sites. Downloading the current MEPIS ISO via BitTorrent is also an option.

The LiveDVD you download is actually an ISO: a disk image file in the ISO 9660 file system format. Before trying to turn
it into a Mepis LiveDVD, please consult Section 2.2.

If you use a free version of MEPIS Linux, please consider making a donation to support further development of MEPIS Linux.

Links and Guides for Section 2.1

2.2: Obtaining & verifying the ISO

Introduction

This page provides guidance if you intend to download an ISO and burn your own DVD instead of buying it from the Mepis Store.

Downloading MEPIS Linux

Here are a few considerations to keep in mind:

The first day or two after a new ISO is released, a particular mirror (a web site that is an exact copy of another site) may not have it. Check other mirrors until you find the version you are looking for, then click the filename to download it. These files are usually very large, so plan to wait for some time (depending on your machine, connection and web traffic).

Sometimes an ISO may be incomplete. This is caused by the mirror attempting to grab the ISO before it has completely uploaded to their source site. If this happens, the ISO may be unusually small or it may give cloop errors when a DVD is booted.

If different mirrors offer ISOs of different sizes, the larger ISO is probably correct. If a mirror site has a bad ISO file, it will probably be replaced during the next automatic update at that site, usually done once per day.

Make sure to download the md5sum file (see below) from the same directory as the ISO file. It will have the same filename but the extension will be .md5sum. Make certain that you put the md5sum file in the same directory as the ISO file.

If the md5sum does not match, you could try one of the following options:

Copy the ISO with a bad checksum to a download folder used by a BitTorrent program (see Section 8.1), then restart the download using a BitTorrent client program. Most BitTorrent clients will find the file already on your hard disk and patch it by downloading only the missing or damaged portions.

Try a different mirror site.

Download the ISO again.

Downloading MEPIS Linux via BitTorrent

BitTorrent file sharing (see also Section 8.1) provides an internet protocol for efficient mass transfer of data. It decentralizes the transfer in such a way as to utilize good bandwidth connections and to minimize strain on low-bandwith connections. An added benefit is that most, if not all, BitTorrent clients perform error checking during the download process, so there is no need to do a separate md5sum check after your download is complete. It has already been done!

The MEPIS Torrent Team also maintains a seeded BitTorrent swarm of the latest MEPIS Linux ISO, registered at
LinuxTracker.org within 24 hours of its official release. Bit-torrent downloads may be somewhat slow following a major release. See link below.

Verifying the md5sum

After you have downloaded an ISO, the next step is to check its md5sum against the official one. The md5sum is the result of a complex calculation on the contents of a file: the outcome is a unique string. It will be identical to the official md5sum if your copy is authentic. The following steps will let you verify the integrity of the downloaded ISO on any OS platform:

md5sum: Windows

Windows users should download a tool called md5summer (link below):

Download the self-extracting .exe file. Double-click it to put 2 files in the current directory:
md5summer.exe and md5summer.md5

Now you can either double-click on the .md5 file and the program will check the md5 sum automatically, or from inside
the md5summer program you can select the location of the .ISO and .md5 files, and then click
“verify sums” and select the .md5 file you want to check.

md5sum: Linux

Method 1. The easiest way to check an ISO's integrity in Linux is to use K3b, the CD/DVD burner that is installed with MEPIS
Linux 11.0.
When you first load an ISO file into K3b, it will automatically
calculate and display the md5sum. You can be confident the download is valid if the final five
characters match those in the md5sum file you downloaded with the ISO.

Method 2. If not using K3b, open up a console/terminal and type:

cd /directoryname

where directoryname indicates the location of the ISO and md5sum files. Then type:

md5sum filename.iso

Be sure to replace filename with the actual filename (type in the first couple of letters then hit Tab and it will be filled in automatically).

Compare the number obtained by this calculation with the md5sum file downloaded from official site. If they are identical, your copy is
identical to the official release.

md5sum: Mac

Mac users need to open up a console/terminal and change into the directory with the ISO and md5sum files. Then issue this command:

md5 -c filename.md5sum

Be sure to replace filename with the actual filename (type in the first couple of letters then hit Tab and it will be filled in automatically).

Burning a LiveDVD

General tips

Most important: do not burn the ISO onto a blank DVD as if it were a data file! An ISO is a formatted image of an entire DVD. You need to choose Burn disk image or Burn ISO in the menu of your CD/DVD burning program. If you just drag and drop it into a file list and burn it as a regular file, you will not get a bootable LiveDVD.

Use a good quality writable DVD with a 4.7 GB capacity.

Burning the ISO

Linux

The following method describes burning with K3b, the default application in MEPIS Linux, but you can use any burner or the command line just as
well.

Right-click the ISO and select Open with >K3b

Wait until the md5sum is calculated, then compare it with the one that you downloaded with the ISO. If the md5sum does match, it means you have a corrupted file.

Check verify written data. After the DVD is written, K3b will read it and compare the result with the MD5 sum of the ISO.

Windows

If you already have a DVD burning program installed on your computer such as Nero or EasyCD Creator (Roxio), go directly to Step 2.

Download and install a DVD Burner such as Cheetah (follow link below).

Put a blank medium in your drive. Start the burner, and click Start and choose Burn ISO File (other wording may be used). In Nero
and Roxio there is a similar command to Burn a Disk Image or ISO.

NOTE: the program names here are used as examples only, and no endorsement or guarantee is intended.

Mac

You probably already have Toast (Roxio) or a similar CD/DVD burning program installed. Just follow Step 2 above.

Verify the integrity

It is a good idea to verify the integrity of the burn, just as you did of the ISO (in Section 2:2). If you didn't burn your new MEPIS Linux LiveDVD/DVD with a
program that can verify the data after the burn, you can check its integrity another way.

Linux

In terminal type:

md5sum devicelocation

If you burned a DVD, the typical device location ("mount point") is /dev/cdrom. Other devices can be
hdc or scd0. Navigate with the file manager Dolphin to /etc/fstab to check the device names on your system.

Wait for the MD5 sum to be calculated, and compare it with the sum obtained from the download site: they should be the same.

Windows

Get the free version of the Windows application IsoBuster from the link below.

Compare the MD5 in the .tao line of the output with that of the downloaded ISO.

NOTE: the Windows program cited here is used as an example only, no endorsement or guarantee is intended.

Mac

When you select to verify the data in Toast or another burner, a byte-for-byte comparison with the ISO file will be carried out to check
the DVD's integrity.

Troubleshooting

If you verified the md5sum of the ISO before you burned, but the DVD you burned is no good:

Try burning again at a slower speed.

Try another blank disk.

Creating a Live USB

Netbooks typically lack a CD/DVD drive, so a Live USB is required for temporary use and installation. Other users may also want a Live USB for improved portability or speed. Once you have obtained the ISO, whether by purchase or download, you can easily create a bootable USB that works on most systems.

If you have an existing installtion of MEPIS, or can boot the LiveDVD on a different computer, then a MEPIS application is available to you that makes the process easy.

Plug in your USB device. It needs to remain unmounted, so ignore the Device Notifier screen that pops up.

3: Pre-Installation

3.0: Introduction

Before launching into an installation of MEPIS Linux, there are a few steps you will want to take. This includes checking
your hardware for compatibility issues, preparing your hard drive, and backing up any important files from your current operating
system.

antiX MEPIS Linux

128 MB RAM plus swap. Will work with 64MB plus swap or use the cli-installer

2.0 GB free hard drive space

Note: antiX also works on PI and k5/k6 AMD boxes.

Recommended specifications

MEPIS Linux

A DVD drive (and BIOS capable of booting from that drive), or a live USB (and BIOS capable of booting from USB)

A modern i686 Intel or AMD processor

1 GB RAM or more

at least 10 GB free hard drive space

a 3D-capable video card for 3D desktop support

antiX MEPIS Linux

Pentium II or equivalent AMD7/Athlon

256 MB RAM plus swap

5.0 GB free hard drive space

3.2: Coming from Windows®

Introduction

If you are going to install MEPIS Linux as a replacement for Microsoft Windows®, it is a good idea to consolidate and back up your
files and other data currently stored in Windows. Even if you are planning to dual-boot, you should make a backup of this data in case of
unforeseen problems during the install.

Backing up files

Locate all of your files, such as office documents, pictures, video,
or music:

Typically, most of these are located in “My Documents”
folder (C:\Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents in Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, or C:\My Documents
in Windows 95, 98, and ME).

Search from the Windows start menu for various types of files to make sure you have found and saved them all.

Once you have located all such files, burn them to a CD or DVD, or copy them to an external device such as a USB hard drive or second computer.

Backing up email, calendar, and contact data

Depending on the email or calendar program you use, your email and calendar data may not be saved in an obvious location or under an
obvious file name. Most email or scheduling applications (such as Microsoft Outlook®) are able to export this data in one or
more file formats. Consult your application's help documentation to find out how to export the data.

Email data: The safest format for email is plain text, and most mail programs support this feature. If you are using
Outlook Express, your mail is stored in either a .dbx or .mbx file, either of which can be imported into Thunderbird on MEPIS Linux. Use
the Windows search feature to locate this file and copy it to your backup. Outlook mail should be imported first into Outlook Express before being exported for use in MEPIS Linux.

Calendar data: MEPIS Linux's calendar software supports the iCalendar and vCalendar standards, so you should export your calendar
data to this format if you wish to use it in MEPIS Linux.

Contact data: MEPIS Linux's addressbook software is capable of importing many addressbook formats, but the most universal are CSV
(comma separated values) or vCard.

Using Windows CD of XP SP2 or higher to create a backup

If you have a copy of the original WinXP CD (SP2 only!), insert it into your drive when you're in Windows and when the autorunner starts
choose Perform additional tasks >Transfer Files and Settings, then Old computer to backup most of your
files and preferences for Windows-based programs to a file on your hard disk, which can then be burned to a CD or DVD for restoration later
if things go wrong.

NOTES: 1) The resulting file can grow to huge proportions. There is no option to split the file if it grows too big, so choose the option
to transfer only the settings and copy the remaining files you want to keep separately. 2) Do not rely on this method to backup email and
browser data for other programs than Microsoft's own.

Accounts and passwords

Although not usually stored in readable files that can be backed up, it's important to remember to make note of various account information
you may have saved in your computer. Your automatic log-in data for websites or services like your ISP will have to be entered in all over
again, so make sure to store off disk the information you need to access these services again. Examples include:

ISP login information You will need at least your username and password for your internet service provider, and the phone number
to connect if you are on dial-up or ISDN. Other details might include a dial out number, dialing type (pulse or tone), and authentication
type (for dialup); IP address and subnet mask, DNS server, gateway IP address, DHCP server, VPI/VCI, MTU, Encapsulation type, or DHCP
settings (for various forms of broadband). If you are not sure what you need, consult your ISP.

Wireless networking You will need your passkey or passphrase, and network name.

Web passwords You will need your passwords to various web forums, online stores, or other secured sites.

Email account details You will need your username and password, and the addresses or URLs of the mail servers. You may also
need the authentication type. This information should be retrievable from the Account settings dialog of your email client.

Instant messaging Your username and password for your IM account(s), your “buddy list,” and depending on the service, the server
connection information may be necessary.

Other If you have a VPN connection (such as to your office), a proxy server, or other configured network service, make sure you find
out what information is necessary to reconfigure it in the event that you need to.

Browser favorites

Web browser favorites (a.k.a. bookmarks) are often overlooked during a backup, and they are not usually stored in a conspicuous place.
Most browsers contain a utility to export your bookmarks to a file, which can then be imported into the web browser of your choice in
MEPIS Linux. Here are some export methods for common web browsers:

Opera Click File > import and export, choose export Opera bookmarks (if you plan to import them into Opera)
or export bookmarks as HTML (if you plan to import them into another browser), select the location for the favorites file.

Software licenses

Many proprietary programs for Windows are not installable without a license key or CD key. Unless you are set on doing away with Windows
permanently, make sure you have a license key for any program that requires it. If you do decide to reinstall Windows (or if dual-boot
setup goes awry), you will be unable to reinstall these programs without the key.

If you cannot find the paper license that came with your product, you may be able to locate it in the Windows registry, or using
keyfinder software (example link below).

3.3: Booting up

Insert the disc into your DVD drive (or the Live USB into a port) and restart your computer. You may need to set your system to boot from the medium first, see Troubleshooting below for details.

The GRUB screen

Once you have booted to the live medium, you will be presented with a menu offering various choices resembling the screenshot below:

These are handled by a bootloader named GRUB that allows you to have several operating systems on your computer. The default boot choice should work for most computers. The AUFS option below Default adds a read/write filesystem module that allows software to be installed and used during a LiveDVD or LiveUSB session but not beyond.

You can also run GRUB from the command line when booting, see the Wiki entry listed below.

Cheat codes

If you look at the bottom of the GRUB screen, you will see a cursor blinking at the end of a row of codes. You can add a cheat code here to pass a command (along with a value, when applicable) to the system in order to adjust for special situations, typically display problems. Here are some of the most common codes used:

noagp

Disable AGP (Accellerated Graphics Port)

nomodeset

Instructs the kernel not to load video drivers. Good to try this when you get black screen with a nVidia card.

rootdelay

introduces a wait period (use = and a value in seconds) that allows devices to settle down. Try this if you have problems booting, typing rootdelay=30.

xdrvr

Specifies a video driver for your hardware. Common uses: xdrvr=vesa for a generic driver, xdrvr=intel for an unrecognized Intel driver.

vga=normal

Can be used with older hardware to disable default resolution.

A full list can be found in the Wiki entry listed below, and you should ask on the Forum about any problems you are experiencing.

The Black Screen

Sometimes it happens that you do not end up looking at the graphical login at all, but instead only have a somewhat scary black screen in front of you, often with a blinking cursor in the upper left corner. This happens because for some reason the system was unable to start X, the window system for Linux.

To get to a login prompt, press Ctrl-Alt-F1 at the same time, and then log in as "demo" with password "demo" (or provide your username and password if already installed). Once logged in, you can type startx to try to boot into KDE or at least to get an idea of what is wrong. Exit by becoming root: type root if you are not already logged in, otherwise su), and enter halt or reboot.

Login

If all goes well, you will arrive at a graphical login screen ("kdm") asking for a username and password. Type in demo for both and hit Enter to log in to MEPIS Linux. Note: do not log in as root if you will be installing, as that can lead to errors.

Note that there are also buttons for "Session type" and "Menu." The allows you to pick which desktop environment or window manager you want to use; the default is the one used for the last session. The Menu button allows you to reboot, exit, etc.

3.4: The new desktop

This section is designed to acquaint you with the basic features of the KDE4 desktop, liberally borrowing material from KDE.org documentation and other online resources. For more info and customization options, follow the Wiki link at the end of this section.

Plasma

Plasma provides the desktop interface for KDE 4, including the application launcher (start menu), the desktop and the desktop panel. Plasma also provides many standardized services such as artwork, presentation and script management.

Plasma uses a system of applets that are collectively called plasmoids, but range from informative widgets (see below) to mini-applications like calculators and dictionaries. An applet may also contain another applet (known then as a containment). An important feature of Plasma is that there is no longer a distinction between panels (like the taskbar), desktop icons, and widgets; they are all created and treated the same way.

What is commonly referred to as the “cashew” is the Plasma logo you can find on the default desktop, on the upper right corner, and on the right-hand side of the panel. By right-clicking to unlock widgets and clicking on a cashew, you can access configuration options and features; you can also just right click on the desktop.

Widgets

A widget is a basic visual building block of the Plasma desktop (the GUI) which, combined in an application, holds all the data processed by the application as well as the available interactions with this data. Other common names are applet or gadget. Superkaramba Themes, Apple's Dashboard, Google Gadgets, Yahoo Widgets, Vista Sidebar Widgets, and Opera Widgets are all examples of other widget systems, some of which Plasma also supports.

A certain number of widgets are supplied by default, and others are downloadable via the Add Widgets dialogue box. To add a widget to the desktop or panel, first unlock the widgets if they are locked, then simply right-click anywhere, select Add Widgets..., and choose the widget from the list. Particularly useful widgets include:

Folder View: displays the contents of any folder

Quicklaunch: allows up to 6 applications to be available with a single click, nice on the desktop for the most used apps

When you are done working with your widgets (including the panel), don't forget to lock them by right-clicking on the desktop (or the panel, under Panel Options) and selecting that command. This will prevent your widgets from possibly moving around or even disappearing.

Adding Widgets

To add widgets to the desktop: right-click an empty space on the desktop and select Add Widgets, then drag the widget onto the desktop

To add a widget to the panel: right-click an empty patch in the panel, and select Panel Options > Add Widgets

In the dialog box that appears, select a widget. Use the arrow symbols to the left or right to scroll through the widgets available, you can also enter a search term in the input field. To make the selected widget appear on the desktop or in the panel, double-click it, and then close the dialog box.

To remove a widget from the desktop or panel: right-click the widget and select the Remove entry.

If these menu options are not available, your desktop elements are probably locked! In this case right-click and select Unlock Widgets.

Configuring Desktop Widgets

Hover your mouse cursor over the widget until a translucent frame appears around the widget, showing a number of symbols. Make sure the widgets are unlocked first.

To change the widget size, left-click on the scale symbol in the frame and keep the mouse button pressed while slowly moving your cursor across the desktop.

To rotate the widget in any direction, left-click the arrow symbol in the frame And keep the mouse button pressed while moving your cursor in a circle across the desktop.

There is a sticky boundary in the horizontal and vertical positions where you can “clamp” the widget, if you like. Of course, you can also arrange it in any tilted position.

To change the contents, settings, or properties of a widget, left-click the wrench symbol in the frame and use the configuration dialog box that appears.

Additional widget source files can be obtained from KDE-look.org under plasmoids. Those that are not directly downloadable (as binaries from the "Add Widget" dialog) can be downloaded as source files that will need to be compiled (see Section 7.3). Compiling instructions are included in the compressed file that contains the source code.

Panel

By default, the panel ("Kicker" in KDE3.5) appears along the bottom of the screen, and takes up much of the width of the screen. It is something of a one-stop shop for almost anything that you might want to access quickly. MEPIS comes with a default panel described below, but the panel is also capable of running any docked widgets and extensions, such as child panels.

Icon key to default panel:

By default, the panel on the KDE4 desktop in MEPIS 11 contains L-R:

The Main Menu icon on the extreme left. Installed programs are automatically listed in the Main Menu in the appropriate category. To start a program, click on the Main Menu icon in the panel or press Alt + F1, then navigate to the program listing and click it.

The Pager, which provides access to virtual desktops (see #9 below)

Quick launch program icons.

In the middle the Taskbar shows currently open windows.

On the right, the System Tray holds current essential processes:

Information

Power status

Upgrade notifier

Clipboard

Sound mixer

Device notifier

Power management

Network manager

Hidden icons

Clock/calendar

The panel settings icon ("cashew") is on the extreme right.

When you hover the mouse pointer over an icon in the panel, a short description is displayed.

There are other options off the context menu when you left-click the panel's cashew on the right end and select Panel Settings:

The arrows on the right will adjust the maximum and minimum sizes of the panel. The left arrow indicates the starting position.

Screen Edge allows you to choose the location by dragging.

Height determines the height of the panel by clicking / dragging. The result is visible in the release of the click.

More Settings gives you a sub-menu of more options such as hiding, alignment, etc.

Configuring Panels

You can customize all KDE panels according to your preferences. Applications and widgets can be added to the quick launch area, the system tray in the main panel or to additional panels. Panel elements and additional panels can be moved to different places or be completely removed at any time.

To access any options for the current panel, right-click an empty patch in the panel (or click the cashew icon at the end of the panel) and select Panel Options > Panel Settings. The panel changes view and shows its configurations options. (If the menu item and the icon are not available, your desktop objects are probably locked. To unlock, right-click and select Unlock Widgets first.)

To move panel objects to a different place within the panel, hover the mouse cursor over the respective panel object (for example, program icon, pager, etc.). The mouse cursor turns into a crosslines-like form. Click the object and move the cursor to the desired position in the panel. Click again to fix it at this place.

To enlarge the distance between two widgets, use Add Spacer..... A spacer widget appears on the right side. Drag and drop it to the preferred place.

To change the panel width, click and drag the small arrow icons at the left and right end of the settings panel.

To change the panel height, click the Height button and move the mouse cursor to the desired end location.

To place the panel at different sides of the screen use the Screen Edge button. Drag and drop the panel to the preferred position.

If you need additional widgets on your panel, add them with the Add Widgets.... button.>

To remove program icons or widgets from the panel, right-click the unwanted object and select the menu item to remove the icon or widget.

The icons in the system tray usually belong to applications running in the background. Therefore you can only remove those icons if you close those applications (right-click the icon and select Quit).

To prevent the panel and widgets being moved accidentally, right-click and use Lock Widgets.

For additional configurations options like alignment and functions, click More Settings.

When all panel changes are done, close the panel settings with red close button on the right side.

Grouping panel

KDE 4.6.5 only Grouping Panel is a panel with support for grouping your widgets. You can add a Grouping Panel by clicking on the desktop toolbox and then on Add Panel. Then select Grouping Panel from the list. You can then move and configure the new panel as if it were a normal one. The groups are special items which can be used to group other items, widgets or other groups. There are several types of existing groups, all with a different way of grouping their items, and you can create your own. For more information, follow the link below to the KDE UserBase discussion of Plasma.

Menus

You have the option of 3 menus in KDE 4:

Classic menu (default)

Kickoff: new style menu

Lancelot, an automatic menu

The first two are installed by default, and are toggled by unlocking widgets, then right-clicking the menu icon and selecting the alternative. Lancelot must be installed as a widget; once it is installed, the classic Menu can be restored by installing the widget "Application Launcher."

System Settings

The KDE control center is called “System Settings,” and is the place to go to change any settings that affect the whole KDE environment. You can open it from the crossed tools icon in the panel, or by clicking Start Menu > Settings > System Settings.

The System Settings screen is divided into a number of separate areas, each of which contains several icons:

Common Appearance and Behavior

Workspace Appearance and Behavior

Network & Connectivity

Hardware

System Administration

(Lost and Found)

To find a particular setting, use the search box in the upper right corner, or hover your mouse over the icons to see their contents.

Krunner

Krunner is a tool for searching and launching files and applications. It can also be used for more generic operations such as calculator or unit converter. To start it: 1) click Start Menu > Run Command, 2) Press Alt+F2, or 3) right-click the desktop > Run Command. The KDE 4 version performs many functions (click the question mark for help), for instance:

Application launcher
Begin to type the name of the application you want to run. Krunner will grow a short list of applications based on the letters you type. You can finish typing the name, or just click the right one from the new short list. If an application requires root access, you should get a dialog box for the password. Occasioinally, you must tell KDE that you want to function as root by typing:

kdesu applicationname

Calculator
You can use Krunner as an efficient calculator. Just type the expression you want to evaluate such as

32*12= or =32*12

(You can put the = sign before or after the expression). It is possible to evaluate more sophisticated expressions such as:

=sqrt(4) + 32 * sin(60)

Converter
You can quickly convert measurements in Krunner by just typing in the value and unit. For instance, if you type:

3m in ft

you will see the result: 9.84251968503937.

Running BASH commands
Krunner doesn't only recognize applications, but also all binaries throughout your system. You can use this ability to run bash commands such as cp, mv, etc. To do so, start Krunner and type the commands just as you would in Konsole, for example:

cp ~/Documents/myFile ~/myFile

Internet commands
Enter any URL and the page will pop up in your default browser.

Task-oriented searches
Start Krunner and click on the wrench symbol > User Interface tab, then select Task Orientated >OK. This changes Krunner into QuickSand, an alternative front end. Just start typing to initiate a search. QuickSand represents matches to a query as a scrolling line of icons. A completion box of matches is also shown when the matches first arrive. The list can be scrolled using the up and down arrow keys when the completion box is shown or the left and right arrow keys.

Other search means

See Section 8.7 on KFind and Nepomuk-Strigi

File management

Dolphin is the default file manager in KDE4. By focusing exclusively on file management, Dolphin avoids many of the pitfalls inherent in the Konqueror approach familiar from KDE 3.5, leading to such items as a more flexible sidebar system and a less-invasive notification system that doesn't interrupt user work flow. Konqueror can still be used as file manager (as can other alternatives, for that matter) and in fact it shares the fileview functionality with Dolphin.

On the left-hand side, Dolphin's Panel provides quick access to your most often used locations, called “Places.” Just drag a folder to the sidebar to be able to quickly access it, not only from Dolphin itself, but also from the KickOff Places tab and the Lancelot Computer tab. Right-click an empty space in the Panel to see other options.

Some hints and tips to get you started:

F4 opens up a terminal at the bottom in the current folder, while F3 gives you a split view that is handy for moving or copying files.

For directories containing lots of images, press the preview button in Dolphin's toolbar and get previews of the files located in the current directory. For very large images, you will have to change the limit in Settings > Configure Dolphin > General > Preview tab.

To quickly move between directories, click on the "breadcrumbs" located right above the main view screen (e.g., Home > Mail > Inbox). Clicking on the arrow next to one of the breadcrumbs lets you move swiftly to different subdirectories.

For a side-by-side view that makes copying files between directories easy, hit the “Split View” button.

Dolphin remembers settings for a specific directory, but you can also set global defaults by clicking Settings" >Configure Dolphin.

For more tips and hints, as well as customization ideas, follow the link below to the Wiki.

Okular Document Viewer

Okular allows you to view a great number of file formats, including PDF, PostScript, OpenDocument format files in the LibreOffice suite (ODF), OpenDocument text (ODT), some eBook formats (ePub), and even Microsoft® Compiled HTML Help files (CHM). Okular also provides support for bookmarks, annotations, form fields and multimedia content, and the rotation of pages.

To open a document, select File > Open and choose the desired file from the file system. Navigate through the document by using the navigation icons at the top or bottom of the window

Depending on the icon you click on the navigation panel on the left, the sidebar either shows a table of contents, a Thumbnail view of each page, the Reviews, or your Bookmarks for this file. To filter for any text listed in the sidebar or the overall document, enter a string field at the top of the sidebar. If you want to select and copy text or images from the file in Okular. click the Selection icon in the toolbar and select one of the options from the context menu. Click the Browse icon to switch back to browsing the document.

Working with Bookmarks and Annotations:

With Okular, you can review a document by highlighting certain text parts or by adding annotations or bookmarks that Okular then attaches to the file in the form of metadata.

To add a bookmark for a page, click the page in the sidebar or in the main menu display field and press Ctrl + B. The page is added to the Bookmarks list on the left sidebar.

Right-click the bookmark entry to access a context menu for going to this bookmark, renaming or removing it.

To create an annotation for this page, press F6 and select one of the annotation tools from the toolbar that appears. The annotation is added to the list of Reviews and is flagged with the login name of the user who created it.

Use the icons at the bottom of the sidebar to group the annotations by page, by author or to show the annotations for the current page only.

To open a pop-up note and add text for an annotation (or to remove an annotation), right-click the annotation entry in the Reviews list and select the corresponding menu item.

The annotations or markers you added are automatically attached to the file: you do not need to save them.

KWallet

Kwallet is a password management tool that can collect and store all passwords in one or more encrypted files (called “wallets”). When you enter a password in a KDE application for the first time (in Kmail of Network Manager, for example), you are asked if you want to store the password. If you click Yes, Kwallet wizard opens by default. Note: if you do not want to use KWallet, you still must step through the dialog box the first time it comes up.

To activate Kwallet, select Basic Setup and click Next. Select Yes, I wish to use the KDE Wallet to store my personal information and enter a password. This is your master password for the default wallet (kdewallet) that will be created during the next step. Then click finish to close the wizard.

Warning! Protect Your Kwallet Password:

If you forget your master password for any wallet, it cannot be recovered! Furthermore, anyone who knows your password can obtain all information contained in the respective wallet. If other people log ono your computer, make the Kwallet password a good one and write it down in a safe place!

If you started the Kwallet wizard from another application like Network Manager or Kmail, Kwallet will prompt you to enter the password again in order to store the password for this application in the newly created wallet. After initial configuration you can open your wallet at any time to view, search, delete, or create entries. Normally you do not need to add additional data manually. KDE recognizes if a resource requires authentication and Kwallet starts automatically, prompting you for the Kwallet password,.

Multiple desktops

It is possible to have more than one desktop available, in order to organize your workspace. There are three ways to do this:

Virtual desktops (default)

Activities

Cube

Virtual desktops are a sub-set of an Activity, so each Activity can have a number of desktops. Activities can also be arranged on the surfaces of a cube.

Virtual desktops

MEPIS 11 comes with a set of four virtual desktops, reached through the Pager just to the right of the Start Menu. You can use them to create different workspaces for separate tasks. For example, one might be Music, another Work, a third Web and a fourth Games. On each of those you could open and leave running the applications you want to use, so that switching back and forth would be quick and easy. To configure, right-click the Pager and select an option.

Activities

One of the most useful and underused features is the plasma activities. The basic idea is that your desktop space is limited to how many widgets it can hold. Activities allow you to specialize each desktop (AKA "activity") to whatever task you need to accomplish to have a different set of plasmoids/wallpapers/information on multiple "desktops". The use of Activities can be particularly helpful when keeping many applications open at the same time, or when wanting more advanced features such as putting the same application on multiple desktops.

Activities can have virtual desktops, and can also be assigned to individual virtual desktops within an Activity. This can be configured by clicking Start Menu > System Settings > Workshop Behavior > Virtual Desktops, and checking Different Activity (or Widgets) for Each Desktop.

KDE 4.6.5 onlyRight-click on the Desktop > unlock widgets, then left-click on the cashew located in the top right hand corner of the screen and choose "activities.” A new panel will pop up from the bottom of the screen providing you the opportunity to ”search” for desktops, and there is a button to add New Activities.

Clicking on “New Activities” opens another menu giving a list of the type of desktop to create. Each of these entries will create a new desktop environment where wallpapers, widgets and programs can be added and/or launched. Don't like the new look and want to start over? Click the small radio button on the top right of the newly created desktop icon button and it changes to a red “X”. Click on the “X” and the activity is deleted.

Available activities include:

Folder view (default) -- displays the contents of a folder (by default the user's Home directory)

Desktop view -- displays a blank desktop to which widgets can be added as desired

Newspaper -- displays widgets you add in two columns

Search and Launch -- displays icons for each menu entry, and has a quicklauch bar on top

Grouping -- allows you to group the widgets you placed on your desktop in different waysKDE 4.6.5 only

Grid -- KDE 4.6.5 only

Here is an example of how to set up Search and Launch:

Right-click the desktop > Folder View Settings.

Click on Activities in the left panel, then use the Type pull-down menu to select Search and Launch Containment and click OK.

To configure what appears in the main panel, right-click the desktop and select Configure Search and Launch, then click on Main menu in the left panel.

To remove an icon from the upper bar, hover your mouse over it and click on the minus sign.

To add an icon to the upper bar, click on an icon in the main area then hover your mouse over the application you want and click the plus sign.

To get back, right-click the desktop > Configure Search and Launch > Activities and use th pull-down menu to return to your preferred type.

To switch quickly between the activities: create a new panel and locate it where you want it, then add the widget "Activity Bar" to the panel. If you like, you can resize the panel to match the bar and set it to auto-hide.

Cube

If your graphics card is capable and you have the correct driver for it, it may be possible to set up a cube with a desktop on each face. Here is the procedure:

Netbook desktop

Go back by clicking arrow at the top left of the dialog, click on Workspace > Workspace Type > Netbook, click Apply.

A Search and Launch as described above (with a different wallpaper) will be created as well as a Page One that is linked by default to openDesktop.org.

Below is the default Page One with a random weather location but no sources selected for the Community or Knowledge widgets.

When Netbook is first launched, it is recommended that you cancel the login dialogs that pop up. Also, you probably will want to click on Page One at the top of the page, and delete the Community and KnowledgeBase widgets with the black cross in the top right corner of each, or by right clicking and selecting delete from the context menu (they can be reinstalled later if required). Then use the Search and Launch tab at the top of the page to return to the main desktop. For details about this Netbook configuration, see the Wiki entry below.

Applications

There are a few programs you may want to investigate while booted to the LiveDVD:

Firefox is the default web browser in MEPIS Linux.

Kopete is an instant messenger client that supports several popular IM services, such as Yahoo, AIM, and MSN.

Kmail is an email program that belongs to KDE's personal information manager applications.
You can install Kontact as a single application for all PIM components: calendar, email, addressbook, sticky notes, RSS aggregation, etc..

MEPIS Linux includes a few games, such as solitaire. You can even play them while you install!

KsCD is a music player. You can use it to play music files or CDs.

The video player KMplayer will handle all sorts of videos.

For more information on available applications, see Section 8.

Testing hardware compatibility

One of the best things about the LiveDVD is that you can use it to test your hardware's compatibility with MEPIS Linux without
installing it to your hard drive. Keep in mind that in general everything runs much more slowly from the LiveDVD.

While booted to the LiveDVD, make sure you test:

Sound

Network connection (particularly wireless)

Video (including 3D acceleration)

Peripherals such as printer, camera, MP3 player, or scanner. See Section 5.2 on setting these up.

Some hardware may require the installation of drivers to work correctly.

Troubleshooting

DVD won't boot. If you have checked the integrity of your ISO, make sure your computer is set to boot to the DVD drive. Newer computers often have a hotkey such as F8, F10, or F12 which will invoke a boot device menu when pressed during startup. For older machines, you may need to edit your system's boot device order in the CMOS (BIOS) settings. Please consult your system's operating manual for the correct procedure.

LiveDVD stops during boot, or once booted performs exceptionally poorly. Try some of the Boot Options that can be found by clicking F1 on the opening screen (GRUB). Problems with hardware, for instance, can often be overcome by entering noacpi, noapic, and/or nolapic.

Does not boot to graphical login (kdm). First, check that you have a good download and burn, as described earlier. If that is OK, then try these steps:

Boot using the Safeboot option on the opening menu (GRUB)

Reboot, highlight the kernel you want to use (usually the most recent), and add at the bottom where the cursor is blinking vga=normal and xdrvr=vesa

Try adding at the bottom acpi=force or acpi=off

Sound not working. Here are some steps to follow if you have no sound:

Take a look in the mixer (KMix) settings and make sure that all the sliders are enabled. Then on the KMix menu bar go to Settings > Configure Kmix, and make certain the "restore volumes on login" is checked

With some cards it is sometimes necessary to open a terminal, become root, and type (one line at a time):

alsaconf
alsactl store

Note: 1) alsaconf and alsactl are part of alsa-utils, which is not installed by default; 2) in mid-2009 '''alsaconf''' was removed from alsa-utils and is no longer available through the Debian repos, though it is available from the Community repos.

Try opening a terminal and becoming root, then typing:

dpkg-reconfigure alsa-base

For ''snd-hda-intel'' systems try right-clicking the desktop > Run Command, and enter

kdesu kwrite /etc/modprobe.d/snd-hda-intel.conf

Once that file opens, comment out the first line; if that doesn't work, try commenting out the second line instead if it is not already. Save, and then run alsaconf.

In the second line of that same file, try adding your specific machine model, for instance:

3.5: Partitioning the hard drive

Introduction

Before starting the install, you may wish to prepare the partitions on your hard drive to install MEPIS Linux. You can do this during installation, but it is recommended that you do it before starting the install. Note that some older hardware may require a restart after the partition tables are edited.

About partitioning

To prepare the hard drive for MEPIS Linux, it is recommended that you create three partitions: one for the root of the filesystem, one for the user home directories, and one for swap (virtual memory). You do not have to create a separate home, but it makes upgrades easier and protects against problems caused by users filling up the drive. If you choose to install to the entire disk without partitions, you can skip this next section.

How big should the partitions be?

Root partition: The minimum size for the root partition is 2.5 GB, however, this size will not allow you to install many programs, and may cause difficulty doing upgrades. Depending on how many programs you wish to install, you may want to allot between 5 and 10 GB.

Home partition: The home partition is where the documents and configuration data for all users is stored. Typically, you want to make this partition as large as possible, especially if you store a lot of pictures, music, or video data.

Swap partition: The swap partition is used by the operating system to store the contents of RAM when programs ask for more RAM than the system has. As such, while swap space should be analogous to the amount of RAM in the system, it becomes less necessary the more RAM you have. A good rule of thumb is to make the swap space double the size of your RAM, but no more than 1 GB (1024 MB).

Notes: 1) gamers should note that they will need a bigger Root partition than usual, since the big games such as Westnoth or World of Padman will fill up a 10 GB root partition very quickly; 2) it is a good idea to plan on keeping about 10% of a partition as free space to avoid file fragmentation.

Hard drive names and types

Before you begin editing partitions, it is critical that you understand how MEPIS Linux (and other Linux operating systems) refers
to hard drives and hard drive partitions.

Unlike Windows, which assigns a “drive letter” to each of your hard drive partitions, MEPIS Linux assigns a short
device name to each hard drive or other storage device on a system. The device names always start with sd plus
a single letter. For instance, the first drive on your system will be sda, the second sdb, etc. Within each drive every partition is referred to as a number appended to the device name.

Thus, for instance, “sda1” would be the first partition on the first hard drive, while “sdb3” would be the third
partition on the second drive. It is important to understand the difference between referring to an entire device
(such as sda) and a partition on the device (such as sda1).

There are more advanced means of naming drives, the most common of which is the UUID (Universally Unique IDentifier), used to assign a permanent name that will not be changed by the addition or removal of equipment. See the Wiki entry under Links and Guides, below.

PC hard disks were originally permitted only four partitions. These are called "primary" partitions in Linx and are numbered 1 to 4. You can increase the number by making one of the primary partitions into an "extended" partition, then dividing that into logical partitions (limit 15) that are numbered from 5 onward. Linux can be installed into a primary or logical partition.

Resizing an NTFS partition

Resizing an NTFS (Windows NT File System) partition with KDE Partition Manager is generally a painless and simple procedure. However there are some small risks, particularly if your hard drive is old or very full. You can mitigate these risks by taking the following steps on your Windows installation (consult your online Windows help (F1) if you are unsure how to perform any of these tasks):

Back up all your data, if you haven't already!

Run the disk cleanup wizard to delete unnecessary files. You may also want to run a third party cleanup tool (example link below). Make sure there is enough free space on the drive so that it will still have several gigabytes free after you resize it.

Check the filesystem for errors using chkdsk.exe or scandisk.exe (depending on your version of Windows).

Defragment your hard drive.

If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7: Use the “Disk Management” tool in Windows to resize the drive. Be warned: this tool does not respect standard hard disk partitioning conventions and it will often leave a small unusable portion of the disk at the end point of the shrunken partition that will show up in the standards-based partitioning tools like those provided with MEPIS Linux.

Resizing steps:

Take your time! You can do the steps one at a time or all together at the end. Here we separate them out so we can illustrate the result of each step. Note that you can only resize unmounted partitions, so to change the partition where MEPIS Linux itself is installed you would have to use the LiveDVD.

In KDE Partition Manager select the correct drive in the left panel, then select the partition in the right panel. Be careful here!

Right-click on that partition and select “Resize/Move”. Choose the new size of the partition. The free space that will remain will be used for MEPIS Linux installation; make sure the “free space after” resizing will be larger than the minimum required size for your version of MEPIS Linux (see minimum/recommended specifications). Click “OK”

Click on the Apply menu icon and respond “Apply...” to the dialog. KDE Partition Manager will now
repartition your drive; at the end you should get a message that the operation was completed successfully. The result will look something like this:

Let's start by creating the Root partition that will hold the operating system. Make sure you have already figured out how to divide up the partition you just created.

Right-click on the “unallocated” partition and select “New”. You will see this dialog box:

Usually you will select Primary for partition type unless you have more than 4 partitions (see hard drive names).

Select Ext3 as the File system, and set the size so that enough is left for Home and Swap. Click “OK”.

It is often very conventient to add a Label (here something like: "MEPIS 11") when you create a new partition.

Click “OK”

Now for the Home partition:

Repeat the steps above, again selecting Primary and Ext3.

Set the size, making sure to leave enough room for the Swap partition.

If you do not want to create a separate partition for Home, your personal files will be in the Home folder of the root partition you created before.

Finally, the Swap partition:

Repeat the steps to above, again selecting Primary as the Partition type.

Select linux-swap as the File system

Make the size at least equal to the amount of RAM you have installed.

When you have finished, you will see something like this:

Very Important! Note down the partition numbers/names as displayed in the new layout (e.g., sda3) for both the root and the home partition. You will need this information when choosing what partition number/name to install Mepis on, and to ensure that you do not overwrite your Windows partition!

Other partitioning considerations

Many home computers are sold with a “diagnostic partition” and “restore partition”, in addition to the factory OS
install. If you see multiple partitions showing up in KDE Partition Manager that you were not aware of, they are probably these.

Some computers need to be rebooted after changing the partitions before they can access the new partitions. If you are having trouble installing or formatting your new partitions, restart the computer and try again.

After resizing an NTFS partition and booting back to Windows, Windows will claim the drive is “dirty” and do a disk check. This is normal, and no data corruption should result from the resize. Allow the check to run its course, and your drive should be fine after that.

3.6: Exiting

It is important to exit MEPIS Linux correctly when you have finished your session so that the system can be brought down in a secure way. All running programs are first notified that the system is going down, giving them the time to save any file being edited, exit from mail and news programs, etc. If you just turn the power off, you risk the possibilities of damaging the operating system.

There are two common ways to exit a session correctly:

Right-click the open desktop, and select Leave to see this dialog box.:

For further options, press and hold the left mouse button on one of the choices.

Click Start Menu > Leave for exit options:

Permanent

To leave a session for good, select one of the following:

Log out (End Session). Choosing this will end everything you are doing, if you have not closed/stopped things yourself, and bring you back to the login screen with the system still running. You can also get back to the login screen by clicking Ctrl-Alt-Bksp, but any open programs and processes will not be saved.

Turn Off/Restart. Self-explanatory options that alter the system state itself.

Temporary

You can temporarily leave your session in one of the following ways:

Lock screen. This option protects your Desktop from unauthorized access while you are away by requiring your user password to return to the session.

Start a parallel session as a different user. You choose this to leave your current session where it is and be able to work for a short time as a different user.

Suspend to RAM (Sleep). This option places your system into a low-power state. Information on system configuration, open applications, and active files is stored in main memory (RAM ), while most of the system's other components are turned off. It is very handy and works very well in MEPIS Linux, though some systems may may not automatically restore wireless and/or bluetooth.

Suspend to Disk (Hibernate).This selection will save running processes to the hard drive and power down the computer. In MEPIS Linux the success of this choice varies among systems, with often no restoration happening. Some users report success with the following addition (replace "/swapdrive" with the correct drive, e.g. /sda2) to /boot/grub/menu.lst:

resume=/swapdrive

Emergency

Once in a while you may encounter a total lockup of your computer that cannot be corrected by killing a runaway program (Section 8.7). The desktop freezes and becomes entirely unresponsive. You have two options remaining, both of which use the SysRq key (on some keyboards, the key may be labeled Prt Scr or Print Screen).:

Force X to restart.Hold down the Alt-SysRq keys, and press K; all session processes will be killed and you will end up back at the login screen.

Use magic SysRq key (REISUB).Hold down the Alt-SysRq keys (sometimes only the left Alt key will work), and slowly press the keys R-E-I-S-U-B; your system should shut down correctly and reboot. The purpose of this magic key is to go through several stages that nurse your system safely out of a failure of some sort, and often only the first 2 letters are sufficient. Example, Alt-SysRq + R, then E, then try what you were attempting to do before the failure, if the system is still unresponsive, continue with the I, try again and if you still have no joy, you may as well finish the sequence.

Links and Guides for Section 3.6

4: Installation

4.0 Introduction

The motto of MEPIS Linux is “Easy to try, easy to install, easy to use.” And indeed, you will most likely discover that MEPIS Linux is the easiest and friendliest operating system installation you have ever used.

Created partitions for MEPIS Linux (see Section 3.5). Optionally, you can do this during the
installation.

Now all you will need to do is run through the simple installation wizard and then restart your machine. Depending on your configuration, this will probably take less than 15 minutes, and could even be as little as 5 minutes!

These instructions should cover most installation scenarios; for more details or for unusual circumstances, see the left panel of the MEPIS installer as you go through, or check the links below.

Before you begin

In most cases the MEPIS Linux installation process should go fine. But sometimes things can go wrong (because of user error, for instance) and potentially wipe out the contents of your hard drive. If you are not prepared for that possibility, stop now and protect your data.

Launch the Installer

Boot to the LiveDVD (see Section 3.3). Once at the desktop, click the MEPIS Install icon and enter root when prompted for a password.

License and Terms

Read through the license and terms of use. Note that Warren Woodford released the source code for the proprietary Installer and System Assistants under the Apache License in the Fall of 2008. Check I agree to the Terms and click Next.

Page 1 (Disk, Partitions, and Type of Installation)

Select the disk on which you wish to install MEPIS Linux. Refer to Section 3. if you are not sure what the Linux hard drive names mean. What you do next is determined by how you wish to set up your computer:

Auto-install using entire disk
Select this option if you plan to use the entire hard drive for MEPIS Linux and you aren't particular about how the partitions are set up. If you select this, the installer will create a root, swap, and home partition for you using the entire drive. You can optionally specify an amount of space to leave unused, if you plan to create more partitions afterward. Make sure you understand that selecting this option will delete any existing partitions and data. Only choose this if you are not going to keep anything on the selected hard drive.

Custom install on existing partitions
If you are installing MEPIS Linux to a dual-boot with another operating system, or you wish to define the sizes of your partitions manually, you need to select this option. If you have not previously set up your partitions (see Section 3.4), you may click the button to run KDE Partition Manager at this point and create them. You must have your partitions created before moving on if you want to select this option.

Page 2 (Partitions and Preferences)

If you chose Auto-install using entire disk on the last page, you will not see this page. Skip to the next step.

Page 2a (Choose Partitions): If you chose custom install on existing partitions, you will now be prompted to select the partitions to install MEPIS Linux. Specify the root and swap partitions you have set up previously; if you have set up a separate partition for your home directory, specify it here, otherwise set home to “root”.

Page 2b (Preferences): Check “Preserve data in /home” if you are doing an upgrade
and already have data in an existing home partition; note that this option is not recommended. Select Check for badblocks if you want to do a scan for physical defects on the harddrive during formatting. This is recommended. Finally, you can optionally select the type of filesystem you want to use on the hard drive. If you don't know what to choose here, the default ext3 is recommended. In MEPIS Linux, ext4 is available (see Section 10.1).

Page 3 (Installation in Progress)

MEPIS Linux will now begin the install. You will be prompted to
confirm the formatting of each partition (or the entire disk). Answer “YES” to each, then
sit back, relax and read the informational messages while MEPIS Linux is copied to your hard drive.

Page 4 (Select Boot Method)

You now need to install GRUB, the bootloader (see Section 5.4). In most cases, you should go with the
default setting (MBR). Select root if you are an expert, as you will need to manually edit the existing boot loader to boot to MEPIS Linux, either directly or by chainloading.

If you are installing to MBR and have more than one hard drive, make sure you have the correct drive selected for “system boot
disk.” Usually this will be the first drive on the system (sda).

NOTE: The initrd option refers to an initial RAM drive, a virtual hard drive created in the system's memory that
allows the kernel to load special driver modules required to read the boot device (hard drive). It is the default setting.

Page 5 (Common Services to Enable)

On this page you can enable or disable a few common services:

ppp is required for dialup internet connections, ADSL connections, and PPTP support. Note that if you have DSL but
connect your computers through a router, you do not need PPP.

bluez is for bluetooth device support. If you do not have bluetooth capabilities on your computer, you may safely disable bluez.

cupsys is the Common Unix Printing System. You
should install cupsys if you intend to print from this machine or use
it as a print server.

Page 6 (Computer Network Names)

Here is where you specify your computer's name and domain. On most home networks the domain does not matter; however, if you are
on a large corporate network, or your network has its own internal DNS server, you can set your domain name here.

You can also enable or disable the Samba server and configure the Samba workgroup (see Section 5.6.3). If you have other computers running Windows on your network and wish to share files or printers to them, enable this setting.

Page 7 (Setting the Localization, Clock, and Timezone)

Page 7a (Localization Defaults): If you are in the United States, the default locale settings should be fine for you. If you are outside the USA, select the keyboard and locale settings appropriate to your language and country.

Page 7b (Configure Clock): You can also indicate here whether your hardware clock is set to GMT (a.k.a. UTC). If you are dual-booting with Microsoft Windows, you will want to leave this unselected. If you are installing on Apple hardware or if this computer will only run Linux, check this box.

Page 7c (Timezone): Here, you can choose from the dropdown menu the time zone in which you are located. The entries are organized alphabetically and grouped by continent for your convenience.

Page 8 (Accounts and Passwords):

On this page you will set up a username and password for the default user, and a password for the root (administrative) user For your convenience, you may tick the box "show passwords" to check if your passwords match.

Usernames:

Are case sensitive. For simplicity's sake, use all lower case.

Should not contain spaces or symbols

Can also be created using MEPIS User Assistant (see section 5.3.3) after installation, if you need more users.

Passwords:

Are case-sensitive.

Should be secure, especially the root password. They should be at least six characters, contain a mix of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols, and should not be based on a dictionary word.

Should not be forgotten. You'll need to have root password to do any administrative task on the computer, such as installing software or configuring hardware, so it is advisable not to use for the root account passwords that others may guess easily, like "root."

Finished!

This concludes the setup. Click Finish, and you will be prompted as to whether or not you want to reboot. Click
YES. The LiveDVD will shut down and the disc will be ejected. You can now boot into MEPIS Linux!

Links and Guides for Section 4.1

4.2: Special situations

Older hardware

If you are trying to install MEPIS Linux on older hardware, and the LiveDVD is running very slowly, try the following:

Don't load KDE: At the login menu, go to the Session menu and select failsafe,
then log in as root (password is root). You will find yourself at a command prompt. Enter the command minstall. This will launch the installation wizard, and you can proceed with section 4.1 from step 2.

Install using a different machine: Remove the hard drive from your old computer, and insert it into a faster machine. Run the
MEPIS Linux install as described in section 4.1. After installation is complete, remove the hard drive and put it back in the old machine.
Because MEPIS Linux redetects all hardware on every boot (rather than once during the installation), you should have little or no problem.

Try antiX: If your hardware is very old (near or below the minimum requirements), you may have better results from antiX. This
community remaster of MEPIS Linux was designed for old machines.

Without a DVD

Even if your computer does not have a bootable DVD drive, you can install MEPIS Linux.

For instance, if your system supports booting from a USB drive (Apple does not) you should be able to boot to the flash drive
and proceed with the install normally. On a second computer, boot to the LiveDVD and create a bootable MEPIS Linux flash drive using the MEPIS System Assistant. Most users report this method is actually much faster than a traditional CD/DVD installation. Check the MEPIS Wiki for details and current status.

4.3: Troubleshooting

Lockups during installation

If MEPIS Linux is locking up during installation, it is usually due to a problem with faulty computer hardware, or a bad DVD. Refer to Section 2.3 for details on verifying your MEPIS Linux DVD.

If you have determined that the DVD is not the problem, it may be due to faulty RAM, a faulty hard drive, or some other piece of faulty or incompatible hardware.

Refer to the Links and Guides at the bottom of the page for details on testing your RAM and Hard drive for physical defects.

Shut down your computer and remove any non-essential hardware, then attempt the installation again. Non-essential hardware may include
USB, serial, and parallel-port devices; removable PCI, AGP, PCIE, modem slot, or ISA expansion cards (excluding video, if you do not have
onboard video); SCSI devices (unless you are installing to or from one); IDE or SATA devices that you are not installing to or from;
joysticks, MIDI cables, audio cables, and any other external multimedia devices.

Add one of the Boot Options space at the bottom where the cursor is blinking (see Section 3.3).

Systems often lock up due to overheating. Open the computer's case and ensure that all the system's fans are running when it is turned on. If your BIOS supports it, check the CPU and Motherboard temperatures and compare them to the temperature specifications for your system.

Your DVD drive may be having problems. If your system supports it, create a MEPIS Linux bootable USB flash drive and install from
that.

Installed MEPIS does not boot

After a reboot, it sometimes happens that your computer reports that no operating system or bootable disc was found. Usually, this means
that either you failed to install GRUB, or you failed to mark at least one partition bootable (a.k.a. “active”) during custom
partitioning of the hard drive.

To fix this, try the following:

Boot to the LiveDVD, log in as demo

Launch KDE Partition Manager, and select the drive on which you installed MEPIS Linux

The partition on which you installed MEPIS Linux should say “Active” in the “Status” field. If it does not,
right-click it and select set active. Then click Commit.

If that was not the problem, launch the MEPIS System Assistant and run a GRUB repair. If you did not previously install GRUB to the MBR, this might be something to try.

If this still does not fix it, you may have a faulty hard drive. Use the the MEPIS System Assistant (from the LiveDVD) to check your MEPIS Linux partition for bad blocks.

Installed fstab shows wrong filesystem type

It sometimes happens that the filesystem type is reported incorrectly for ntfs or vfat partitions, showing them as ext3 or ext4. This is usually caused by the filesystem type being set incorrectly in the MBR tables. When you reformat a partition to a different type, that only changes the actual format of the partition, it does not
update the MBR.

It may be possible to change this by using the command line utility cfdisk (type man:cfdisk into a Konqueror address field for details), but that can fail if irregularities exist such as with the cylinder end point (common when multibooting with Windows Vista or Windows 7). Always reliable will be to open a root Dolphin by clicking Start Menu > System > Dolphin as su, navigating to /etc and clicking on the file fstab. Back it up immediately as fstab_old or something similar so you can restore it if necessary. Look for the problem partitions, for example:

/dev/sda2 /mnt/sda2

ext3

noauto,users,exec,relatime 0 0

Although the partition is labelled with the filesystem type ext3 (in red above), let's say it is actually ntfs or vfat. Highlight ext3, delete it, and enter auto so the corrected line looks like this:

/dev/sda2 /mnt/sda2 auto noauto,users,exec,relatime 0 0

Check carefullly that you have not made any mistake, then save the file. Note: it is often more reliable to specify auto-detection of a Windows filesystem type than to try to specify it.

4.4: Apple Intel computers

MEPIS Linux is compatible with Apple Intel computers: those based on Intel x86 CPUs, with the exception of some small details. Intel Core 2 or Xenon-based Apple computers can run 64-bit MEPIS, but all Intel-Core-based Apple computers can run 32-bit MEPIS.

MEPIS Linux has a utility for preparing your Apple bootable hard drive for OS X so that you can install MEPIS Linux painlessly. This MEPIS Assistant is compatible with OS X Tiger and Leopard. There is a README file in the in the LiveDVD OSX directory with more information.

Instructions for installation:

Put the MEPIS Linux media into an appropriate drive, and use the Finder to navigate to the OS X folder of the DVD.

Unzip it, then launch the SimplyMEPIS Assistant.app and follow the instructions.

When prompted, reboot into the DVD and install MEPIS Linux following the directions in Section 4.1.

Install MEPIS Linux on the partition you created with the MEPIS Linux 8.5 Assistant for OS X.

Install GRUB on root. DO NOT install it on the MBR.

If GRUB installs OK, finish the installation, and reboot into OSX or MEPIS Linux.

If you get an error message that says: "Sorry, installing GRUB failed. This may be due to a change in the disk formatting." then do the following:

Quit the installation process, and restart your Mac.

At the rEFIt startup screen, use your left and right arrow keys to select "Start Partitioning Tool". You will see a list of partitions and proposed updates to the MBR. Press "y" to accept the MBR updates.

At the rEFIt startup screen, use your left and right arrow keys to select the "Shut Down Computer" or "Restart Computer".

Start the computer, and go back to step 7. You should not get the GRUB installation error again.

After installing MEPIS Linux, return to the Assistant in OS X to enable dual booting.

NOTE: the Installer disables options that would be likely to damage your OS X System Drive. Do not try to use Parted,
KDE Partition Manager, or QTParted to do anything on an OS X System Drive. If used, parted will probably destroy the OS X installation and make the disk unbootable.

4.5: Uninstalling MEPIS Linux

Overview

In many instances, removing MEPIS is no different from that of any other operating system. But when you need to remove MEPIS from a dual boot system and restore the original single partition structure, the procedure is somewhat more complicated.

Remove the Linux partition

In the upper right corner of the screen, select the hard drive (you will see a Windows partition when you have the right one).

Right-click the MEPIS Linux drive or drives, and select delete from the menu. If delete is not there, choose "resize" and shrink it to zero.

When all Linux drives are done, then resize the Windows drive to the maximum.

Reboot without the DVD into Windows, which will probably tell you it has to check the drive.

Restore the MBR

If GRUB (the boot loader used by MEPIS Linux) was installed on the MBR (master boot record at the very beginning of a hard drive), you will probably also have to reinstall the Windows bootloader in one of the following ways:

With Windows XP and later, you need to boot into the Windows Recovery Console. Follow the link below for up-to-date details.

If you do not have the Windows CD, you can repair the MBR with third-party software such as Active@ Partition Recovery for DOS (link below). You need the commercial version for this feature, and it may require that you had backed up the MBR.

For Windows Vista, follow the link below on how to use the Bootrec.exe tool.

5: Configuration

5.0: Introduction

This section covers configuration instructions in order to get your system running correctly from a fresh installation of MEPIS Linux. For optional customization and personalization features, see the first two items under Links and Guides at bottom. Click on any of the following links for details about configuration in that topic area:

Click on the item that interests you to see details on how to set up that peripheral.

5.2.1: How to set up a camera

In most cases MEPIS Linux will add a camera automatically:

Switch on your camera in 'play' mode and connect it to your computer.

Click Start Menu > System > System Settings > Digital Camera, and you will usually see your camera icon already there.

If it is not there, you can add it manually by clicking the menu camera icon and finding your camera in the list.

Retrieving images from your camera is easy:

Most cameras will be recognized by the Device Notifier in the System Tray on the right side of the panel, which will send up a notification that a new storage device has been connected, and it will carry the name of your camera. Click on that device, and then select "Open with Dolphin" from the items on the list.

A third possibility is to install Digikam from the repos. It will likely recognize your camera and allow you to import images.

Some brands (Kodak, for example) or models sometimes present particular problems, and may require a manual edit of the rules governing how plug-in devices are handled. See the Wiki link below for Kodak cameras on how to do that.

Occasionally, it may be necessary to explore your camera's menu in order to change the connection type from PTP to USB.

If your camera uses a multimedia card for storage, as many do, you may find it easiest to use a card reader (cheap if not built in) to connect to your USB port. Under MEPIS Linux, it will usually show up as an additional media device on your desktop, and you can read and write to it as if it were a
hard or floppy disk.

Troubleshooting

Make sure your user-id appears in the camera group (create it if necessary) using Start Menu > System > KUser.

If your camera does not appear, check to see if it is on the USB device list linked below.

Google for the keywords "gphoto2 YourCameraMake YourCameraModel". Look for a changelog that includes your model. Check the version of the changelog and compare it to the output of typing this into a terminal:

gphoto2 --version

You may need a new version of gphoto2 if the older version
of the program does not recognize the camera. See whether one is available from MEPIS Repositories or search the MEPIS Community Forum (see Links & Guides). See Section 7.3: Other install methods: source code if you need to compile it yourself.

Troubleshooting

5.2.3: How to set up a printer

Basic operation

USB printers plugged directly into the computer will probably be automatically recognized and installed by a KDE utility that does the configuration, though they can also be manually installed. Printing itself is enabled by CUPS (Common UNIX Printing System).

All printer management is handled by Printer Configuration, found by clicking Start Menu > Settings > System Settings. Scroll down if necessary to find Printer Configuration icon, and click on it. Any printer automatically installed will be listed there on the left-hand side, where there are also entries for New Printer and Server Settings, which you would use when sharing a printer (see Section 9.1). Click on New Printer, and follow the screens to set up a new network printer or printer class (group, e.g., "color printers").

If this method does not work satisfactorily for you, you can open a browser and type in the address bar:

http://localhost:631/

This will present you with the CUPS (Common Unix Printing System) interface, where you can click on "Adding Printers and Classes" at the top of the middle column, then "Add Printer" on the following page.

5.2.6: How to set up a handheld device

Success with using a handheld device with MEPIS Linux depends on the handheld OS and hardware being used. Many users get around the complications of synching through the use of cloud applications such as Google Calendar or Dropbox.

Palm devices

PalmOS devices can be used on MEPIS Linux to sync handheld data to the Jpilot desktop application, though there is no longer any integration with KDE applications such as Calendar or Contacts.

Preliminaries

Make sure your handheld data are backed up before you start.

Make sure your device info is correct, including spelling and capitalization

If you are using a Palm device that has been used on another PC, you may have to restore the factory defaults (hard reset)

Make sure that the modules you need are loaded: visor, usbserial and uhci_hcd or ehci_hcd. See the Wiki on handling modules, linked below.

Setup

The following technique works on MEPIS with many Palm devices.

Using any installation method, install these packages:

pilot-link
jpilot
libpisock9

Connect your Palm handheld to the computer

Open Jpilot (Start Menu > Office) and click on File > Preferences > Settings, and select the appropriate Serial Port from the pull-down menu. When using a cradle On MEPIS, the choice of usb: will usually work.

Press the hotsync button on the Palm device, then click the hotsync icon on the lower left in J-Pilot. It should start syncing. Sometimes, you may need to wait 5 seconds before pressing the JPilot icon.

Once setup has worked, you can usually perform a hot sync simply by pressing the hot sync button on your handheld or its cradle.

Troubleshooting

Go through the preliminary steps again. Be sure that the modules are loaded.

Plug your handheld directly into the PC (no hub).

Palm Pre

It has been reported that the Palm Pre can be synched with Google Contacts and Calendar; see the link below.

RIM Blackberry devices

There is no official method of synching a BlackBerry device with Linux, but there is group working on the problem called the Barry Project. The Project's critical software barry-util is available from the Community Repositories for MEPIS 11, and usage details can be found in the Wiki.

Other devices

At the present, synching a PDA that runs Windows Mobile is difficult. However, there are active projects working on this. Check the sites linked below for new developments. Likewise, there currently is no easy way to sync Nokia phones with the desktop. In both cases, you can use Bluetooth to move files and a cloud application for such things as contacts, calendars, etc.

5.2.7: How to set up a MP3 player

With the latest kernels used by MEPIS Linux, using portable media players such as iPod, Creative Zen, or iRiver has become very
easy. Two good graphical frontend applications available for managing songs and playlists with MP3 players are Amarok and Gtkpod

Amarok
Amarok is a KDE music manager not installed by default in MEPIS Linux, but easily available from the repos. Most MP3 and other media players will be autodetected by Amarok.

Plug in your device.

Device Notifier will pop up, listing the device. Click on the device icon to open it up in Dolphin.

Open Amarok, select your device, and click Connect.

Gtkpod
Gtkpod is a platform-independent application specializing in Apple's iPod. It supports the first to fifth generation devices, including
the iPod mini, iPod Photo, iPod Shuffle, iPod nano, and iPod Video. It is available through Synaptic.

Links and Guides for Section 5.2.7

5.3: MEPIS Assistants

Introduction

A unique feature of MEPIS Linux is the group of configuration utilities known collectively as the MEPIS Assistants, located in Start Menu > Settings or Start Menu > System. The MEPIS Installer is treated separately in Section 4.

5.3.1: Network Assistant

Configure your network access with MEPIS Network Assistant (command line: mnetwork), by clicking Start Menu > Settings > MEPIS Network Assistant. The interface has five tabs. Be sure to click Apply when you make a change on any tab (you will see a warning if you don't).

General tab

Interface status
This panel at the top of the screen displays the active interfaces and indicates their status following an obvious color code. If you hover your cursor over any interface you will see details on its current state.

Interface Configuration Mode:

The Automatic mode using NetworkManager is default on MEPIS Linux. It allows easy connection to access points through any active interface.

The Manual mode may work better, especially when interface problems (e.g., with WPA encryption) show up in automatic mode. Check that box to activate it and, if necessary, then Apply. If the NetworkManager icon is in the system tray of the Panel at the bottom right of the screen, right-click it to quit so that it does not interfere with the manual mode.

Driver Preferences:

Select the Broadcom wl driver for newer cards with the chipset BCM4310 to 4312, BCM 4322, and BCM4328. Select the Broadcom b43 kernel drivers for older chipsets such as BCM4306.

On the use of Ndiswrapper to allow the use of Windows drivers in Linux, see Section 5.6.

The Broadcom drivers may interfere with each other, so you should uncheck the one that you are not using. Similarly, ndiswrapper should not be used if you are relying on a kernel module, and vice versa.

Check the box for the ipv6 driver (the next-generation Internet Protocol version) if you need it for a particular use. Since it can slow down connections, it is disabled by default.

Configure Domain Name Service Source: allows you to adjust how DNS is set.

Network Control: permits restarting the network when changes have been made. In some cases, you may have to reboot for the changes to take effect.

Wireless tab

If you are using wireless for internet access, note which interface (e.g. wlan0) you're using.

Enter the name of your network (SSID), if you know it; you can also try any or default. To see what networks are available, click Scan Access Points. All found will show up in the SSID box along with an indication of their strength, and you can select the one you want. Rarely you may need to adjust the frequency (channel) in order to avoid conflict with other devices using the 2.4 GHz band.

Interfaces tab

Use the pull-down menu to get to your interface, then click Start at boot. If you don't know which interface name you should use, open a terminal, become root, and type:

iwconfig

Uncheck Start at boot for any other interfaces you will not be using.

Check the Start/Restart on Apply box and then Apply at the bottom to quickly restart the interface.

If you need to, you can configure static IP settings.

Click Apply then OK. You may have to reboot for the changes to take effect, though usually that is not necessary. On the LiveDVD, go back instead to the General
tab and click Stop Network, then Re/Start Network.

Troubleshooting tab

Hardware Clicking on Scan hardware will return a detailed description of your network cards and chipsets. Be sure to report this information when seeking help.

Associated drivers

Linux drivers. Any drivers associated with your wireless hardware will be listed here.

Windows drivers. This panel allows you to see associated Windows drivers for use with Ndiswrapper, as well as to add or remove a driver, or even to blacklist Ndiswrapper if it is interfering with a Linux driver you want to use.

Diagnosis tab

Ping is used to send small data packets to another network host as a basic test for connectivity. It will test your connection to any IP address or hostname you give it; try something like www.yahoo.com to see how it works. Ten packets is often enough, but you can select any number by using the arrows. Consult the MEPIS Wiki link in the Links and Guides section on how to read and use the output.

Traceroute shows you the route over the network between two systems, listing all the intermediate routers a connection must pass through ("hops") to get to its destination. It can help you determine why your connections to a given server might be poor, and can often help you figure out where exactly the problem is. Try something like www.yahoo.com to see how it works. Ten hops is often enough, but you can select any number by using the arrows. Consult the MEPIS Wiki in the Links and Guides section on how to read and use the output.

5.3.2: System Assistant

This utility allows you to make various adjustments to your system, running as root. You can start the utility from Start Menu > Settings > MEPIS System Assistant (command line: msystem). The interface has four tabs:

Options: Here you can configure computer identity (name, domain, workgroup), system locale, keyboard layout
(use KDE System Settings to enable keyboard layouts if different from system) and space recovery.

MEPIS USB key: This tab is for setting up a bootable Live USB key for netbooks or OnTheGo (see link below).

Repair System Boot: This tab is used for repairing the MBR (Master Boot Record). It is normally
used when running from the LiveDVD. "System boot disk" refers to the MBR, and "MEPIS installation disk" is the root partition. Check the Wiki for how to deal with multiple hard disks or other complicated situations.

Repair Partition:
This tab allows a partition to be tested for errors and bad blocks. It may not be run from within the partition that needs to be
checked, and for that reason is usually run from the LiveDVD.

5.3.3: User Assistant

This utility aids in adding, editing, removing users to your system. You can start the utility from Start Menu > Settings > MEPIS User Assistant. It has four tabs:

Repair: by checking the appropriate box, you can restore the defaults for any Users group memberships,
KDE application configurations, and Firefox configurations.

Copy/Sync: this tab allows you to copy or sync between desktops. It is used with OnTheGo (see Links and
Guides).

Add: you can add users here and assign them passwords.

Delete: here you can delete a user account, with the option of removing the associated home
directory.

5.4: GRUB bootloader

Introduction

GRUB is the default boot loader used by MEPIS Linux. A boot loader is software that tells your computer where to find operating
systems to boot. When you start your computer, GRUB will provide you with a menu of choices. It is a very powerful boot loader that can load a wide variety of free operating systems, as well as proprietary operating systems with an indirect boot technique known as chainloading.

Overview

The typical default GRUB screen in MEPIS Linux shows 3 kernel entries for MEPIS ("stanzas" that start with title), any other detected OS, and a MEMTEST entry. For a dual_boot on a single hard drive with Windows XP installed in the first partition (named sda1 in MEPIS Linux, see Section 3.5), it looks something like this:

Three kernel entries are listed for technical reasons; details in the Wiki discussion of GRUB under Links and Guides below.

The final entry, Memtest is a thorough, stand-alone memory test for all Intel or AMD-based systems. It writes a series of test patterns
to every memory address, then reads back the data written and compares it for errors..

Customizing GRUB

After successfully installing a dual-boot system, many people want to adapt it to their environment. Warning: making mistakes in editing GRUB configuration may render your system unbootable. To recover from this situation see Section 5.3.2 for 'Repair System Boot'.

Configuring the boot menu timeout

It is possible to change the length of time for which the boot menu is shown. This is useful if you would like the computer to start up
faster (without the delay of showing the menu) or would like more time to choose which operating system to start.

Click Ctrl-L to open the navigation bar, and type /boot/grub/menu.lst and hit return. This will open the configuration file for GRUB
(menu.lst) that you can now edit in KWrite, the default text editor.

The first line contains text similar to the following:

timeout 10

This line determines the time, in seconds, during which the boot menu will be shown. Change the number on this line to the number of seconds you would like. Use 0 if you would not like the menu to be shown at all so that the default entry will be booted automatically.

Click File > Save to save your changes and then Exit. Your changes should take effect the next
time you restart your computer.

Changing the default operating system to boot

There are various ways you can set which operating system will be started automatically if you have not chosen one from the boot menu within a certain time. Open the boot/grub/menu.lst file as root using the method indicated above, and do one of the following:

Add a default order number

add the following option just above the first
“title” entry:

default n

Change the variable n to “0” to boot from the first entry in the menu, “1” for the second, and so forth.

Rearrange the stanzas

Highlight the stanza for the OS you want to boot by default

Cut and paste it into the first title position.

Configure GRUB to default to whichever OS you booted previously. For details, check the Wiki entry on Customizing GRUB in Links and Guides below.

Whichever method you choose, save the file and exit when you are done. The changes will take effect the next time the computer boots.

5.5: Display

The Black Screen

Occasionally it may happen that when you boot up, you end up looking at an empty black screen that may have a blinking cursor in the corner. This represents a failure to start X, the windows system used by Linux. Possibilities and solutions for this failure include:

Wrong graphic driver. This problem can occur when using the LiveDVD or LiveUSB, when you install a new monitor or with a new graphic card. It can be corrected by changing the driver, see below.

Driver not compiled. This problem happens every time a new kernel or an updated Xorg is installed (if used). Use Ctrl-Alt-F1 to get to a login prompt, log in as your user, then become root and use sgfxi. Details in the Wiki.

Resolution

Resolution refers to the physical number of columns and rows of pixels creating the display (e.g., 1920×1200). In most cases, the resolution is correctly setby the kernel during installation (see Section 4.2) or when a new monitor is connected. If not, you can change it in the following ways:

Click Start Menu > System > More Applications > KRandRTray to get an applet in the System Tray that you can use to adjust resolution and other values. This is particularly useful for laptops.

Click Start Menu > System > System Settings > Display and Monitor. Use the pull-down menu to set the correct values.

For Nvidia cards, you can install the package nvidia-settings that will give you a graphic tool that you can use to alter settings as root with the command

kdesu nvidia-settings

In difficult situations, it is possible to manually alter the configuration file /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Always back up the file before you change it, and check the Wiki and the Forum for help about specifying the use of that file.

Graphic driver

If you are not satisfied with your display's performance, you may need to upgrade your graphic driver (make sure to first back up the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf, if used) in one of the following ways (see the Wiki for details):

Download directly from the manufacturer. This method will require you to select and download the driver for your system; for system info, open a terminal and enter

lspci|grep VGA

Here are driver websites for the three most popular brands--do a web search on "brandname linux driver" for others:

Press F4 to get a command line and type (using the real name of the file)

sh filename.run

Install additional driver packages from the repos.

With an ATI chip, for instance, direct rendering requires the addition of the package libgl-mesa-glx.

Graphic controls are available for Nvidia (nvidia-settings) and some ATI drivers

Check the Wiki and Forum for details and help.

Use a script called sgfxi. This script was developed by a Linux user named h2-1 for standard system upkeep for Debian, and currently supports ATI fglrx and Nvidia drivers. It also supports converting from or to Xorg free drivers like ati, intel, or nv. To get the script, open Konsole, become root, and enter:

cd /usr/local/bin && wget -Nc smxi.org/sgfxi && chmod +x sgfxi

Once you have this installed, you can use it to easily change to the latest appropriate driver by opening a root konsole and typing sgfxi. Follow the simple on-screen directions. Note that this is not an official MEPIS product, so no guarantees can be made about its use.

Adjusting fonts

Basic adjustment

Adjust font size as needed. You can adjust them individually, or all at once (e.g., when a specific monitor makes them too large or too small) using the button Adjust All Fonts.

For help, press F1 to access the KDE Help Center.

Advanced adjustments

Firefox

Open Firefox and click on the menu bar Edit > Preferences >Content

Make any desired changes.

Opera

Open Opera and type in the navigation panel: about:config

Enter "font" in the search box, and make any desired changes.

GTK fonts

GTK+ is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces. It is used in a variety of applications such as Synaptic.
You can easily add a page for adjusting GTK Fonts to the System Settings:

Click Start Menu > System > Synaptic Package Manager.

Locate and install these packages:

gtk-qt-engine
gtk2-engines
kde-config-gtk-style

In the System Settings you will now find a GTK Styles and Fonts entry where you can control the style and fonts used by GTK
applications.

Adding fonts

Click Start Menu > System > Synaptic Package Manager.

Use the search function for “fonts.”

Select and download the ones you want.

Select the Microsoft core fonts package ttf-mscorefonts-installer for easy installation of the Microsoft True Type Core Fonts for use with websites and MS applications run under Wine.
Note: for installation methods, see 7: Software Management.

Click Start Menu > Settings > System Settings > Font Installer

From the Font Installer, click Add and open the font you have downloaded.

Click on the Install button.
NOTE: You may need to resize the window to see the Install button in the lower right hand corner.

Your new fonts should be available in the font window of Start Menu > Settings > System Settings & Appearance > Fonts.

Laptops

The action initiated by closing the lid of a laptop is set by default to Suspend to Ram after 15 minutes. You can alter that behavior by clicking Start Menu > Settings > System Settings > Power Management > Edit Profiles.

There is a small tool for changing the display on the fly that is handy when using a laptop. Located by clicking Start Menu > System > KRandRTray (Screen Resize & Rotate). It sits in the system tray, and allows you to
conveniently alter screen size, orientation or refresh rate.

Troubleshooting

If all normal attempts to configure your video have failed, or if things have gotten totally messed up, you can use a CLI tool called Xorg -configure that will examine your system and provide a new basic configuration file. Note that there is no user input or choice of screen resolution. Details in the Wiki entry, below.

5.6: Network

Introduction

A computer network is simply defined as “A connection of two or more computers so that they can share resources.” Resources are in the form of hardware (i.e., printers), software, data, Internet connection, etc. Setting up a home network is a fairly straightforward task. But it is a good idea to arm yourself with a little knowledge to make things easier, as well as safer (from a security point of view). See Links and Guides below for background information.

We will be dealing with the various methods of internet access separately in subsequent sections, but all of them can be managed in MEPIS in one convenient location by clicking Start Menu > Settings > System Settings > Network Settings.

5.6.1.1: Wired Internet Access

MEPIS Linux typically picks up wired internet access upon boot without much problem.

Ethernet and cable

MEPIS Linux comes preconfigured for a standard LAN (Local Area Network) that uses DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) to assign IP addresses and DNS (Domain Name System) resolution. This will work in most cases as-is. You can change the configuration with the MEPIS Network Assistant (see Section 5.3).
When you boot MEPIS Linux, your network adapters are assigned a short interface name by udev, the kernel's device manager. For normal wired adapters this is usually eth0 (with subsequent adapters eth1, eth2, eth3, etc). Wireless adapters often come up on the eth0 interface in MEPIS Linux, but the interface name depends on the adapter's chipset. For instance, atheros cards often show up as ath0, while ralink usb adapters may be rausb0. To find out what interfaces have been detected and named in your system, click Start Menu > System > KInfoCenter (Info Center) > Network Interfaces. For more details, open a terminal, become root, and enter:

ifconfig -a

It is highly recommended that you have a firewall (see Section 5.6.2) running if you are connecting directly to the Internet with your PC! If you are running a stand-alone/external firewall, most of which will run DHCP by default, simply connect to the
router/hub/switch and your machine should autoconfigure via DHCP.

ADSL or PPPoE

If you use ADSL or PPPoE, connecting to the internet is easy in MEPIS Linux. Click Start Menu > Settings > System Settings > Network Settings, then the DSL tab. Click the Add... button and fill in the required information, checking to connect automatically if you want.

NOTE: you may encounter problems when using a USB device to connect instead of going through a router. If that happens, plug the unit into the computer, open Konsole, and type:

dmesg | tail

Post a message on Forum with the output to get some help in finding the driver you need.

Dial-Up

If you use a dialup connection with your computer, you will use KPPP. Click Start Menu > Internet > KPPP (Internet Dial-Up Tool) to define an account, test that the modem is working, and dial your ISP. A wizard makes the process painless, but for configuration details you can consult the KPPP Handbook in Links and Guides.

On the Device tab you will need to set up the serial information. Accepting the default /dev/modem may work, but you might need to try another interface. These are the Linux equivalents of the COM ports under MS-DOS and MS-Windows®:

COM 1 - /dev/ttyS0

COM 2 - /dev/ttyS1

COM 3 - /dev/ttyS2

COM 4 - /dev/ttyS3

NOTE: For some users, KPPP does not work correctly in MEPIS Linux. Consult the KPPP section of the MEPIS Wiki linked below for solutions that users have found. If you continue to have difficulties, you should install gnome-ppp and try connecting with that application instead.

Command line utilities

Command line utilities are useful for seeing detailed information, and are also commonly used in troubleshooting. Most must be run as root.

ifconfig - main configuration utility for network interfaces. Full documentation can be found by typing man:ifconfig into
the Dolphin address bar.

Troubleshooting

Ethernet cards in MEPIS Linux are configured in the file /etc/network/interfaces. The file is actually very simple in format and syntax, and not hard to edit in the event that other tools fail. See documentation by typing "man:interfaces" into the address bar of Dolphin.

5.6.1.2: Wireless Internet Access

MEPIS Linux comes preconfigured to autodetect a WiFi card, and in many cases your card will be found and set up. If not, see below for the basic steps for enabling wireless.

There are three ways wireless can be supported in MEPIS:

With a native driver that comes as part of the Linux kernel (example: ipw3945 for Intel).

With a Windows driver using the application Ndiswrapper (supplied by default), which "wraps" your Windows driver so that it can be used in a Linux system (example: bcmwl5 for Broadcom).

With a Windows driver using the commercial product Linuxant.

Sometimes there is both a native Linux driver and a Windows driver available. You may want to compare them for speed and connectivity, and you may have to remove the one you are not using to prevent a conflict. For more information, see Links and Guides below.

Wireless cards can be either internal or external. USB modems (wireless dongles) usually show up on the wlan interface, but if not then check others on the list.

NOTE: The successful method varies for users because of the complicated interactions among the Linux kernel, wireless tools, and the local wireless card chipset and router.

3G modems

For wireless internet access using a 3G modem, please refer to the Debian Wiki's 3G pages linked at the bottom of the page for compatibility information. Many 3G modems will be recognized by MEPIS 11's normal Network Management widget if modemmanager is installed first from the repos. If you experience that booting hangs for several minutes (it will eventually boot), then upgrade the kernel--ask on the Forum if you need help.

Basic Wireless Steps

Click on the Network Manager icon in the system tray on the right side of the panel, and you will see something like this:

Click on the line that gives the name of an interface in the left panel (e.g., WLAN Interface)

Click on the interface that now shows up in the right panel

A config window opens up. The system will try to detect the correct encryption type (e.g. None, WEP or WPA), but you may need to verify if it is set correctly. Change if necessary, and fill in any required passwords. Check 'Connect automatically' at the top of the screen if you want your machine to connect without user intervention the next time you are within reach of this network.

When everything is done, click OK.

The KWallet system wizard opens up. Click Next

If you want to use the KDE wallet to store personal information, check the box and consult the KWallet discussion in Section 3.4, above. For now, it is easier if you leave it unchecked and click Finish; you can always set it up later. The connection will be made.

Examples of wireless interfaces include:

eth, when a kernel module is being used and a wired interface exists

wlan, when ndiswrapper is operating and often when using native drivers

ra0 for cards with Ralink 2500 chipsets using the native driver. If an external device such as a dongle is being used, this may show up as rausb0

For a full list, consult the Debian Wiki on Wifi linked below.

If Network Manager does not see a particular network, open the MEPIS Network Assistant (see Section 5.3). On the General tab, click on the radio button for Manual (mnetwork) to deactivate Network Manager. Then click on the Troubleshooting tab. In the top panel, Hardware, click the Scan Hardware button to find the information about your chipset that you need to get help. The output will show all recognized interfaces.

If an interface is found:

Search out any conflicts between drivers: 1) if you have a Broadcom chipset, use MEPIS Network Assistant to turn off all drivers except the one you want to use; 2) Atheros-based chipsets can cause more than one module to be loaded, preventing a proper connection.

Try another connection manager such as Wicd or Ceni. Wicd (wicd-gtk is a nice graphical app) is a popular choice for many Linux distributions, and can be gotten from the MEPIS repositories. Ceni is in the Community Repository; it is particularly useful for hidden access points and other difficult situations. Please note that MEPIS can not guarantee the performance of these applications.

If no interface is found:

Open a terminal and type:

lspci

or

lsusb

Note the detailed information on your specific hardware, and look for more information about that from the Debian Wiki on Wifi, from the LinuxWireless site listed below, or on MEPIS community forum.

Although we would like to use native drivers, in some cases you will want or need to use ndiswrapper and a Windows driver. This may be because you can't otherwise connect, or because the connection is better. See below for details.

For some cards it is necessary to install firmware, the small programs and data structures that internally control the electronic components. MEPIS comes with quite a bit of firmware already available, but you may have to track down your particular need. Use the LinuxWireless website linked below.

Open a terminal and type

dmesg | grep net

and look for any error message.

Report all relevant information in a post on MEPIS community forum, and ask for help

Native drivers

MEPIS Linux includes a large number of native wireless drivers among its kernel modules. The directions vary somewhat for each, and in some cases you will need to also obtain the firmware (small programs that internally control various electronic devices). Pease consult the MEPIS Wiki on native drivers, linked below.

Ndiswrapper

Ndiswrapper is an open source software driver "wrapper" that enables the use of Microsoft Windows drivers for wireless network devices in Linux. It comes pre-installed in MEPIS Linux, along with a number of the most common Windows drivers. Note that you MUST use a Windows 32-bit driver if you have MEPIS 32-bit edition and you MUST use a Windows 64-bit driver if you have MEPIS 64-bit edition. In general, Windows-XP drivers work much better than Vista drivers, so try the Windows-XP driver first.

Here are the steps you should take to get wireless working with Ndiswrapper:

Open up MEPIS Network Assistant (Start Menu > System).

Click on the Troubleshooting tab, and click on "List Windows Drivers." Look for one of the drivers there that is associated with your hardware.

If no driver is already associated, obtain the XP drivers for your card either from your legacy installation or from other sources (check the Wiki).

Once you have placed the driver files (especially the *.inf and *.sys files) into a location on your computer, return to the Troubleshooting tab.

Using the Remove Driver button, highlight and remove the existing drivers one at a time until none are left.

Click on the Add Driver button, navigate to the location where you placed the XP driver files, highlight the file and click OK

Click OK to close, and reboot your computer.

If you are not connected when you reboot, go back to the MEPIS Network Assistant and make sure your network ESSID is entered on the Wireless tab. If not, enter it, click Apply, and restart the interface on the Interfaces tab.

If you still have trouble, consult the Wiki or post the information described above in the last of the Basic Steps on MEPIS community forum.

5.6.2: Firewalls

Introduction

A firewall is a device or application used to filter data packets from incoming or outgoing network traffic, usually based upon the IP address or type of service (literally, the port number). Firewall configurations sometimes need to be adjusted if you add a new network service or change the port of an existing network service on your computer.

Although MEPIS Linux does not come with a software firewall preinstalled and configured, it is recommended you use one as a safety precaution, especially if you do not have a router. Firewalls are aimed at two groups of users: novice to intermediate users who are not experts in networking and security, and users who don't want the hassle of dealing with using scripts and parameters. See Links and Guides for more details.

Software

Most firewall programs available for MEPIS Linux are merely frontends for Netfilter/iptables, the network filtering module in newer Linux kernels. So, the real differences among different firewalls are the way the interface works and what options are available. Here are several alternatives to consider (details in Wiki):

5.6.3: File sharing

Introduction

MEPIS Linux can handle a large variety of networking protocols to make files and directories available to other computers on your network. Many people accustomed to Windows may be confused by the variety of file sharing protocols and not understand why there are so many when Windows simply allows you to "share" files without much rigamarole. Being open, though, Linux allows you to choose the protocol that best suits your needs.

Samba

This is the protocol used by Windows machines (which they call SMB: “Server Message Block”). Samba is the most complete solution to share files with Windows machines on your network without making changes to the Windows machines. Samba sets up network “shares” (directories available to other users) for chosen Linux directories and all contained subdirectories. These appear to Microsoft Windows users as normal Windows folders accessible via the network.

It also offers some other services for interfacing with Windows networks, such as domain authentication, messaging services, and netbios name resolution. Finally, it provides an easy method of connecting Linux machines to each other and even to Mac machines.

There are two basic aspects to sharing files on your network through Samba: first, setting up a samba server on the machine whose files you want to share, and then telling the server which directories it may share with other computers on your network.

Setting up a samba server

If you are logged into a KDE session as root, go to:
Start Menu > Settings > System Settings > Network and Connectivity > Sharing

To avoid the risks of logging into a session as root: from your user account, open a Konsole window, or right-click on the desktop and choose run command from the pop-up menu. Enter this command:

kdesu kcmshell4 kcmsambaconf

Enter root's password when prompted. You should then have the window Samba KDE Control Module. You have tabbed windows for these configuration categories: Base Settings, Shares, Printers, Users, Advanced.

For detailed information on how to configure your Samba Server, see the Mepis Wiki:

Adding Samba shares

In addition to going into Samba KDE Control Module to add more directories to share, there is another shortcut you can take to add shares. Use Dolphin to navigate to the folder/directory you want to share. Right-click and select Properties. Click on the Share tab, then on the button Configure File Sharing. Provide root's password, and then define the users and folders available to Samba.

Can be confusing to set up on the server side, because some of the terminology is different.

Security can be weird, since Windows clients are not all consistent in how they deal with security.

Not the best choice if you have relatively few (or no) Windows computers involved.

Other methods

NFS:
This is the standard Unix protocol for sharing files. Many feel it is better than Samba for sharing files, and it can be used with Windows (2000 & XP) machines if you install Services for Unix or a third-party NFS client on them. For more information, see Links and Guides at the bottom of the page.

Pros:

More mature and stable than Samba for Linux / Unix servers.

Simpler and less cumbersome than Samba.

Cons:

Windows clients require extra configuration.

Terminology somewhat different from what Windows users are used to using.

SSHFS:
This is a pretty new protocol that requires some additional installation on Mepis (at least for the client). It is a mountable filesystem protocol implemented using SSH, so it is encrypted and only requires that the server be running SSH. For more information, see Links and Guides at the bottom of the page.

Hard to control what user has access to; anything they can access locally is available over the network.

Cannot setup "anonymous" shares. (?) (At least not without a major security compromise).

Forget about using this with Windows clients.

FTP
This is a very old protocol that still enjoys common use and support. It does not have all the features of other protocols and is somewhat insecure, but is a good choice if you are going to share files out to the internet and you have a wide variety of client OS's. For more information, see Links and Guides at the bottom of the page.

Not very secure for use on the internet (passwords sent in plain text).

Not very flexible for sharing out multiple unrelated folders.

Setup can be a bit of a challenge for newbies.

BitTorrent
BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P) communications protocol for distributing large amounts of data widely without the original distributor incurring the entire costs of hardware, hosting and bandwidth resources. See Section 8.1: Bit-Torrent.

5.7: Sound Configuration

Introduction

Linux has many different ways of interacting with audio hardware. The main two are the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) and the Open Sound System (OSS). KDE builds on these low-level systems with its own Phonon API which all KDE multimedia programs use for playing sound. Fortunately, MEPIS chooses the most appropriate audio settings automatically and you do not need to worry about the details.

Basic configuration

KMix is the recommended way to adjust the details of your sound.

Open KMix by clicking Start Menu > Multimedia > KMix, or by clicking the speaker icon in the system tray (right side of the panel) and then on Mixer.

On the tab that may carry the name of your soundcard, make sure the Master volume (on the far left) is turned up.

Also, make sure PCM is turned up (the control with the blue squiggly line above it). You can hover your cursor over the icons to find out what they mean.

Make sure that the Mute checkbox next to the slider controls is not ticked.

On the menu bar click Settings >Configure Kmix and make certain that Restore volumes on login is
checked.

You can also check that your audio hardware is working correctly in Start Menu > Settings > System Settings > Multimedia. Click on the "Music" category in the left-hand panel and select a device in the right-hand panel (there may be more than one). Click "Test" to verify that each device is working correctly. You can determine the primary soundcard by adjusting its priority with the "Defer" button.

NOTE: you cannot play an audio CD by clicking on the CD-ROM icon on the desktop. You must use an installed player (see Section 8.2: Multimedia).

Multimedia restricted formats

People wishing to play back video and audio files in proprietary formats will need to install this packages:

libdvdcss2

This is available through Synaptic after checking the box next to this repository (see Section 7.2):

deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org squeeze main

NOTE: The use of this package is of questionable legality in some countries, so please check your local restrictions before installing it.

System sounds

You can control KDE system-wide sound settings by following these steps:

Click on any Event source to make any changes. If you don't want to hear the initial music notes when the desktop comes up, for instance, you would select KDE Workspace as the event source, then highlight Login and uncheck Play a sound below.

Troubleshooting

You can set up your sound driver by installing the package alsa-utils from the Community repos. Then open a terminal, become root, and type:

alsaconf

This will start an automatic process to discover your sound card and install the correct driver.

In order to troubleshoot any problems you will need to know what sound card you have. Open a terminal by clicking Start Menu > System > Konsole (Terminal), and enter this line:

lspci | grep -i audio

This command asks that all devices be listed that contain the word “audio” in their description, and the output will tell
you your card manufacturer and model. Here is an example of output:

With this information, you can use the MEPIS Wiki to track down more information and help, or ask on the Forum. In rare cases, you may have to load a module for your card following the directions linked below.

NOTE: Many of the drivers do not include the snd- prefix; you will need to add that to get the actual module name.

5.8: Bluetooth

Bluetooth is enabled in MEPIS Linux by default through the kernel, and its tools can be accessed most easily from the menu found by right-clicking the Bluetooth icon on the right side of the panel:

Input devices such as a keyboard or mouse will usually be picked up automatically as soon as you plug the receiver into the computer, and you should be able to just start using the device. If you experience problems, click Start Menu > System > KUser, provide root's password and check that your username is checked to belong to the Bluetooth group.

File transfer. File transfer to and from a handheld device is enabled by default by virtue of ObexFTP, a C application and library with many language bindings to access mobile phone and other handheld content.

Host to handheld device:

Make the handheld discoverable, if necessary

On the host, right-click the BT icon in the System Tray > Manage devices. Add your device if it is not already there, and click the Trust button below

Right-click the BT icon again > Receive files configuration. Make sure the Enable box is checked, and decide where you want the files to go (e.g., ~/Downloads)

Right-click the BT icon one last time > Send File. Navigate to the file you want to send and click Next. On the device screen, make sure the device you want to send to is present, and rescan if necessary. Highlight the device and click Next.

On the device, accept the transfer of the file.

Handheld to host:

Check that the host is visible to the handheld.

Navigate to the file you want to send, and use the method appropriate for the particular device to send it.

Get your clock to show the correct time: Right-click the digital clock > Digital Clock Settings > Time Zones. Type the name of your preferred timezone into the search field, or scroll the list to find your preferred timezone, then click on it to select it. Then click on the pull-down menu for Clock defaults and click on your preferred timezone > OK.

Get spellchecker to use your language: install the myspell package for your language (e.g., myspell-en-au). Then click Start Menu > Settings > System Settings > Locale, click on Spell Checker in the left panel, and use the pull-down menu to set the system-wide preference.

Get local weather info: install the package plasma-dataengines-yawp, which will provide additional feeds for various applications and widgets.

Get language packs for major applications: open Synaptic, and search on "localization" to find and install language packs (e.g., kde-|10n-es) for the applications you use.

Links and Guides for Section 5.9

6: The Command Line

Introduction

Although MEPIS Linux offers a complete set of graphical tools for installing, configuring, and using your system, the command line (also called the console, terminal, BASH, or shell) is still a useful and at times indispensible tool. Here are some common uses:

Launch a GUI application to see its error output.

Speed up system administration tasks.

Configure or install advanced software applications.

Execute multiple tasks quickly and easily.

Troubleshoot hardware devices.

The default program to run a terminal in a MEPIS Linux KDE desktop window is Konsole, which can be found at Start Menu > System > Konsole (Terminal). Some commands are only recognized for super user (root), while others may vary the output depending on user. To obtain temporary root permissions:

open Konsole.

type su.

enter root's password

You will recognize when Konsole is running with root privileges by looking at the prompt line right before the space where you type. Instead of a $, you will see a #; in addtion, the font color changes to red.

NOTE: if you try to run as a regular user a command that requires root privileges such as hwinfo, you will receive an error message that the command was not found.

First steps

For more information on running Konsole for solving system problems, please refer to the topic Troubleshooting at the end of this section. Also, it is advisable to make backups of the files you are working on as a root user with the commands cp and mv (see below).

Though console commands can be fairly complex, understanding the command line is just a matter of putting together simple things. To see
how easy it can be, open Konsole and try a few basic commands. This will all make more sense if you do it as a tutorial exercise rather
than just reading it. Let's start with a simple command: ls, which lists the contents of a directory. The basic command
lists the contents of whatever directory you are currently in:

ls

That's a useful command, but it's just a few short columns of names printed across the screen. Suppose we want more information on the files in this directory. We can add a switch to the command to make it print out more information. A switch is a modifier we append to a command to change its behavior. In this case, the switch we want is:

ls -l

As you can see on your own screen if you are following along, this switch provides more detailed information on the files in any
directory. Of course, we might want to see the contents of another directory (without going there first). To do this, we add an
argument to the command, specifying which file we want to look at. An argument is a value or reference we add
to a command to target its operation. In this case:

ls -l /usr/bin/

By giving an argument of /usr/bin, we can list the contents of that directory, rather than the one where we currently
are.

There are a lot of files in /usr/bin! It would be nice if we could filter this output so that only entries that
contained, say, the word "fire" would be listed. We can do this by piping the output of the ls command into another
command, grep. The pipe, or “|” character (Caps + \), is used to send the output of one command to the input of
another.

The command grep searches for the pattern you give it and returns all matches, so piping the output of the previous
command to it filters the output.

ls -l /usr/bin/ | grep fire

Thanks to grep, we only see the lines of the output that contain the word "fire". Finally, suppose we want these results saved
in a text file for use at a later time?

When we issue commands, the output is usually directed to the console display; but we can
redirect this output somewhere else, such as to a file, using the > (redirect) symbol:

ls -l /usr/bin/ | grep fire > FilesOfFire.txt

This command now instructs your computer to make a detailed list of all the files that contain the word "fire" in a particular directory, and to create a text file containing that list, in this case named "FilesOfFire.txt". As you can see, the command line can be used to perform complex tasks very easily by combining simple commands in different ways.

Common commands

Here is a list of rudimentary terminal commands. For a complete reference, see the Links and Guides section.

Filesystem navigation

cd /usr/share

Changes current directory to the given path: “/usr/share”. With no argument, cd takes you to your home
directory.

pwd

Prints the current working directory path

ls

Lists the contents of the current directory. Use the -a switch to show hidden files as well, and the -l switch to show details on all files. Often combined with other terms: lsusb lists all the usb devices,
lsmod all the modules, etc.

File management

cp source.file destination.file

Copy a file to another filename or location. Use the -R switch ("recursive") to copy entire directories.

mv source.file destination.file

Move a file or directory from one location to another. Also used to rename files or
directories and to make a backup, for example before changing a critical file such as xorg.conf.

rm deleteme.file

Delete a file. Use the -R switch to delete a directory, and the -f switch ("force") if you don't want to
be prompted to confirm each deletion.

cat file.txt

Prints the contents of a file on the screen. Only use on text files.

grep

Find a given string of characters in a given piece of text, and print the entire line it was on. Usually used
with a pipe, e.g. cat somefile.txt | grep somestring will display the line from somefile.txt that contains ”somestring”. To find a network usb card, for instance, you could type: lsusb | grep network. The grep command is case sensitive by default, use the -i switch to make it case-insensitive.

most

More sophisticated file viewer, which features one screenful at a time, up and down scrolling, text searching, line numbers, and other things. Often used in a pipe, for instance cat somefile.txt | most. NOTE: this replaces less as the default pager in MEPIS Linux.

Symbols

|

The pipe symbol, used to send the output of one command into the input of another.

>

The redirect symbol, used to send the output of a command into a file or device. Doubling the redirect symbol will cause the output to be added to the end of an existing file rather than replacing it.

&

Adding the ampersand to the end of a command (with a space before it) causes it to run in the background, so that you don't have to wait for it to complete to issue the next command.

Troubleshooting

For most new Linux users, the command line is mainly used as a troubleshooting tool. Terminal commands give quick, detailed information that can be easily pasted into a forum post, search box, or email when seeking help on the web. It is strongly recommended that you keep this information at hand when asking for help. Being able to refer to your specific hardware configuration will not only speed up your process of obtaining help, but also it will let others offer you more accurate solutions. Here are some common troubleshooting commands. Some of them may not output information, or not as much information unless you are logged in as root.

lspci

Shows a quick summary of detected internal hardware devices. If a devices shows as unknown, you usually have
a driver issue. The -v switch causes more detailed information to be displayed.

lsusb

Lists attached usb devices.

dmesg

Shows the system log for the current session (i.e. since you last booted). The output is quite long, and
usually this is piped through grep, less (similar to most) or tail (to see what happened most recently).
For example, to find potential errors related to your network hardware, try dmesg | grep -i net.

ifconfig

Shows the status of currently active network interfaces. See Section 5.6.1.

Provides a real-time list of running processes and various statistics about them.

Accessing documentation for commands

Many commands will print out a simple "usage information" message when you use the “--help” or “-h” switch. This can be helpful for quickly recalling the syntax of a command. For example:

cp --help

For more detailed information on how to use a command, consult the command's man page. Short for “manual,” man pages typically contain detailed information about switches, arguments, and sometimes the inner workings of a command. Even GUI programs often have man pages, detailing available command line options.

Manual pages are conveniently viewed in Dolphin by typing man:commandname
into the address bar. In addition, by simply typing man:/ into Dolphin, you can browse the entire collection of man
pages installed by MEPIS.

The man page may also be read at the console with the command man commandname. By default, man pages are displayed
in the terminal's most pager, meaning that only one screenful of the file is displayed at a time.
Keep these tricks in mind to navigate the resulting screen:

Packages

Software operations in MEPIS are accomplished through the Advanced Package Tool (APT) system. Software
is provided in the form of a package: a discrete, non-executable bundle of data that includes instructions for your package manager
about installation. They are stored on servers called repositories, and can be browsed, downloaded, and installed through special
client software called a package manager. The recommended package manager for MEPIS is Synaptic, though the graphical utility Gdebi and the command-line utility apt-get are also included for those who prefer them.

The majority of packages have one or more dependencies, meaning that they have one or more packages that must also be
installed in order for them to work. The APT system is designed to automatically handle dependencies for you; in other words, when you
try to install a package whose dependencies are not already installed, your APT package manager will automatically mark those dependencies
for installation as well. It can happen that these dependencies can not be met, preventing the installation of a package.

Repositories

APT repositories (repos) are much more
than just web sites with downloadable software. The packages on repository sites are specially organized and indexed to be accessed through
a package manager, rather
than browsed directly. MEPIS Linux comes with a set of enabled repositories that offer you both security and choice. If you are new to
MEPIS (and especially if you are new to Linux), it is recommended that in general you stick with the default repositories at first, with the exception of the multimedia repository that you will need to enable for proprietary-format codecs (see Section 8.2).

For security reasons, these repositories are digitally signed, meaning that packages are authenticated with an encryption key to make sure they are authentic. If you install packages from non-Debian repos without the key, you will get a warning that they could not be authenticated. To get rid of this warning and make sure your installations are secure, you need to install any keys not installed by default; see if the repo contains a keyring package, or check its home page for instructions on adding the key. Most repositories should have a keyring package which installs the necessary keys (search keyring in Synaptic). Here are the most common:

gnome-keyring

debian-archive-keyring

debian-multimedia-keyring

Repositories are most easily added, removed, or edited through Synaptic, though they can also be altered by hand by editing the file /etc/apt/sources.list in a root terminal. In Synaptic, click Settings > Repositories, then click the button New and add the information. Here, for instance, is how the settings look for the MEPIS Community repo:

At times it may be easier to directly alter the repository list in the /etc/apt/sources.list file. This can be edited as root with any text editor by backing up the existing file, editing the original file, and saving it. The same repository viewed above looks like this in the file:

deb http://main.mepis-deb.org/mepiscr/repo/ mepis11cr main non-free

Some repositories carry special labels:

contrib, which depend on or are accessory to non-free packages.

non-free, which do not meet the Debian free software guidelines (DFSG).

security, which contain security-related updates only.

backports, which contain packages from newer versions of Debian that have been backwards compiled for Debian 6.0
(“Squeeze,” the version SimplyMEPIS is built with) to keep your OS up-to-date.

mepis, which contain the special packages that make MEPIS what it is.

Community Repositories

The MEPIS Community has its own repository of packages that it builds and maintains. These packages are distinct from official MEPIS packages, and typically have been "backported" from "forward" Debian versions (testing or even experimental). There are five separate sections:

Main: most users should use at least this CR Repo

Main - restricted: contains packages that may violate patent and/or licensing laws in your country

NOTE: The testing sections should only be enabled to download packages for testing, and immediately disabled afterward.
They should not be used on main production machines or mission critical set-ups, as there is by definition a risk that they will break your system.

To find out more about what is available, who the packagers are, and even how to get involved, follow the MEPIS Community Package Project link below.

Dedicated Repositories

In addition to the general repositories such as Debian, Mepis, and Community, there also exist a certain number of dedicated repositories associated with a single application. When you add them to your sources.list file, either directly or through Synaptic, then you will receive update notifications. Here are some of the more common ones used in MEPIS, arranged as they would appear in sources.list:

Opera and Google provide the GPG key with the installation, but you will have to acquire the others in the manner already described.

Subversion Repositories

One final category of repository exists for acquiring the most recent build of an application. This is done through Subversion (in the regular repos), a version control system that can be used by the end user to stay current with development. Once installed through the repos, you can use the application for any development line that offers a repository set up for the use of Subversion. Here is an example for the drawing application Inkscape:

svn co svn://svn.tuxfamily.org/svnroot/xmoto/svg2lvl/trunk/extensions

That command will check out a copy of the application source code into a directory named trunk on your local machine. Subversion is mostly used by developers working on a project, but sometimes endusers will use it for a particular interest.

Tips

Be sure to have only one package manager open at a time, or you will get an error message.

MEPIS Linux is binary-compatible with DEBIAN Squeeze (codename for the current stable release). This means that software compiled to run on Squeeze should be able to be run without
modification on MEPIS Linux. Adding repositories or installing packages designed for newer versions of Debian, Ubuntu, or Ubuntu
derivatives (including SimplyMEPIS 6.x) may cause system instability.

In addition to dependencies, packages can also specify suggests and recommends, visible in Synaptic by right-clicking the package name. Recommends, unlike
“dependencies,” are not absolutely required, but should be installed along with the package in most circumstances.
Suggests are packages that enhance or compliment the package in question, but are not required. To see and/or mark
suggested or recommended packages, right-click the package name and select mark suggested for install or mark
recommended for install, respectively.

If you plan to install software using methods other than APT (for instance, to get a newer version), make sure you purge any
versions that have been installed using Synaptic (right-click, Mark for Complete Removal). Since non-repository installations often put files in different locations than repository installations, failing to remove the repository version can cause two conflicting versions to be installed side-by-side.

Troubleshooting

Should you uninstall? Occasionally, conflicts in package dependencies can cause the APT system to require the uninstallation of a
large number of important packages in order to install some other package. This is rare with the default configuration, but becomes
increasingly likely as you add unsupported repositories. BE VERY ATTENTIVE whenever installing a package would require
that others be removed! If a large number of packages are going to be removed, you may want to investigate another method of installing
this application.

Should you keep?: When upgrading, you will often be informed that a new configuration file is available for a certain package, and be asked
whether you want to install the new version or keep your current version.

If the package in question is from a MEPIS repository, it is recommended that you “install the maintainer's version”

Otherwise, answer “keep the current version” (N), which is also the default choice.

Here is an example of the dialog you would see when the repository list is being changed by MEPIS--notice that the answer at the end is y, telling Synaptic to go ahead and install the changed file :

7.2: Synaptic Software Package Manager

Introduction

Synaptic is a friendly, easy-to-use frontend (GUI) to the APT package management system. It is a graphical tool that allows you to install,
remove, upgrade, downgrade, or get information on all the software packages available in the online repositories on your repository list. Synaptic can be launched from Start Menu > System > Synaptic Package
Manager, or you can simply click on the Synaptic icon in the system tray, the Apt-notifier (yellow box). Note that your root
password is required and, naturally, you will need to be connected to the Internet if you want to use the online repositories (as opposed to the DVD).

Installing new software with Synaptic

Here are the basic steps for installing software in Synaptic:

Open Synaptic, supply the root password, and click Reload.

Hit the Reload button. This button causes Synaptic to contact the online repository servers and download a new
index file with information on what packages are available, what versions they are, and what other packages are required for them
to be installed. If you get a message that some of the repositories failed to be contacted, wait a minute and then try again.

If you already know the name of the package you are looking for, just click in the pane on the right and start typing, and Synaptic will incrementally search for what you type.

If you don't know the package's name, use the Search box in the upper right corner to locate software based on name or keywords. This is one of Synaptic's greatest advantages over other methods.

Alternatively, use one of the filter buttons in the bottom left corner:

Sections provides subareas such as Editors, Games and Amusement, Utilities, etc.). You will see a description of each package in the bottom pane, and can use the tabs to discover more information about it.

Status groups packages by their installation situation.

Origin will show packages from a specific repository.

Custom Filters provides various filter options

Search Results will show a list of previous searches for the Synaptic session you are in.

Click the empty box next to it and select Mark for Installation. If the package has dependencies, you will be notified and they will automatically be marked for installation as well. You can also just double-click the package if it is the only one you are installing.

Click Apply to begin the installation. You will see a warning message “You are about to install software that can't be authenticated!” that you can safely ignore.

There may be additional steps: just follow the prompts as you receive them until the installation completes.

Occasionally, packages will fail to install because their install scripts fail one or more safety
checks; for instance, a package might try to overwrite a file that is part of another package, or require downgrading another package
due to dependencies. If you have an install or upgrade that is stuck on one of these errors, it is called a broken package. To fix this, click on the Broken packages entry in the left panel. Highlight the package and try first to fix the problem by clicking Edit >Fix Broken Packages. If that is not successful, then right-click the package to uninstall it.

Upgrading software with Synaptic

Synaptic enables you to quickly and conveniently keep your system up-to-date.

Open Synaptic, supply the root password, and click Reload.

Synaptic will inform you if any packages are upgradeable by marking them with a star. You can also click the Status button on the bottom left and select the Installed (upgradeable) section in the left pane to see all the upgradeable packages installed on your system.

Click the Mark All Upgrades icon below the menu bar to select all of these packages for upgrade, or click on the packages one-by-one to individually select upgrades.

Click Apply to begin the upgrade, ignoring the warning message. As the installation process begins, you have the option of watching the details in a terminal within Synaptic.

With some package upgrades, you may be asked to confirm a dialog, enter configuration information, or decide whether or not to
overwrite a configuration file you have altered. Pay attention here, and follow the prompts until the upgrade completes.

Downgrading software with Synaptic

Sometimes you may want to downgrade an application to an older version, for instance because of problems that arose with the new one. This is easy to do in Synaptic:

Open Synaptic, supply the root password, and click Reload.

Click on Installed in the panel on the left, then find and highlight the package you want to downgrade in the panel on the right

On the menu bar, click Package > Force version...

Select from the available versions on the pull-down list

Click Force Version, then install in the usual manner.

Pinning software with Synaptic

Sometimes you may want to pin an application to a specific version to keep it from being upgraded in order to avoid problems with more recent ones. This is easy to do:

Open Synaptic, supply the root password, and click Reload.

Click on Installed in the panel on the left, then find and highlight the package you want to pin in the panel on the right.

On the menu bar, click Package > Lock version...

Synaptic will highlight the package in red and add a lock icon to the first column.

To unlock, highlight the package again and click Package > Lock version (which will have a check mark).

NOTE: this pinning only affects the application Synaptic, not the actual list of application versions used by Apt, and will not work if you later use another upgrade means. For a universal pinning method, follow the example linked below.

Removing software with Synaptic

Removing software from your system with Synaptic seems as straightforward as installing, but there is more to it than meets the eye:

To remove a package, simply right-click it and select Mark for Removal or Mark for Complete Removal.

Removal uninstalls the software, but leaves configuration files in case you want to keep your settings.

Complete Removal removes the software and the configuration files as well (this is known as purging a package).

When you have other programs that depend on the package being removed, those packages will have to be removed as well. This usually happens when you remove software libraries (packages starting with “lib”), services, or command-line applications that serve as back-ends to other
applications. Make sure you read carefully the summary Synaptic gives you before clicking OK.

Removing large applications that are composed of many packages can bring complications. Many times these packages are installed using
a meta-package, which is an empty package that simply depends on all the packages you need for the application. The best way to
remove a complicated package like this is to inspect the dependency list for the meta-package, and remove the packages listed there. Take
care, however, that you don't uninstall a dependency of another application you want to keep!

You may find that the staus category Autoremoveable begins to accumulate packages. These were installed by other packages and are no longer needed, so you can click on that status category, highlight all the packages in the right pane, and then right-click them to remove.

Synaptic errors

Here are some common error messages that may occasionally be encountered in using Synaptic, along with their solutions:

GPG errors

Messsage: public key not available
Problem: you do not have a correct key used for cryptography installed
Solution: Enable the Community repositories, then install checkaptgpg. Then, when you get a warning about a public key not being available, run this application by clicking StartMenu > System > Check Apt GPG. Enter Y and then the root password.

NOTE: see also BADSIG below

Package authentication

Message: Packages could not be authenticatedProblem: Many repositories, including all of Debian's repositories & Warren's MEPIS 8.0 & 8.5 repositories, use a [http://aplawrence.com/Basics/gpg.html GPG key] to verify that you are connected to the real repository instead of having been rerouted by a highjacked DNS or a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-in-the-middle_attack man-in-the-middle attack] to a fake site. This is a very slight possibility, but for production machines the extra security is worth the check. The MEPIS Community Repositories don't use such a key at this time, although new CR packages are gpg-signed by the packagers.
Solution: If this error occurs when installing packages from the Community Repository it is safely ignored. If it occurs with packages from the Debian or MEPIS repositories, do not continue the installation and report the error.

No header, problem with merge list

Message: Encountered a section with no Package: header. Problem with MergeList etc.
Problem: Files have been corrupted for some reason.
Solution: There are two main variants of this problem.

If the error message includes a reference to /var/lib/dpkg/status, open a terminal and type:

If the error message refers to a file in /var/lib/apt/lists, open a terminal and type:

su -c "rm -f /var/lib/apt/lists/*"
su -c "apt-get update"

Broken package

Message: you have a broken package and are told to use the Broken filter to find it
Problem: you tried to install a package that had unmet dependenciesSolution: click on Status in the lower left corner of the Synaptic screen, then on the entry "Broken package." Click on the package and remove it. Reload the repos.

Cache limit exceeded

Message: Dynamic MMap ran out of room. Please increase the size of APT::Cache-Limit. Current value: 20000000.
Problem: Cache-Limit is too small to handle new package cache
Solution: Click Start Menu > System > Dolphin as su, and provide root's password. Open etc/apt/apt.conf . Change line from

APT::Cache-Limit 20000000

to

APT::Cache-Limit 70000000

If you have a large cache already, then run

apt-get clean

BADSIG

Message: similar to "GPG error: ftp://ftp.mirrorservice.org mepis-11.0 Release: The following signatures were invalid: BADSIG E6AD81A8B9FBE3CE Warren Woodford (MEPIS Maintainers)"
Problem: The GPG signature of the repo has expired
Solution: Warren has to be notified

7.3: Installing Software by Other Methods

Deb packages

The software packages installed through Synaptic (and APT behind it) are in a format called deb (short for “Debian”,
the Linux distribution that devised APT). You can manually install downloaded deb packages using the graphical tool Gdebi or the command-line tool dpkg. These are simple tools to install local *.deb packages.

Installing *.deb files with Gdebi

Navigate to the deb package you want to install and click on it. Gdebi will open the install dialog.

Click Install.

Enter your root password when prompted.

Gdebi will attempt to install the package, and report the results.

Gdebi can also be used from the command line

Installing *.deb files with dpkg

Navigate to the folder containing the deb package you want to install using Dolphin.

Hit F4 to open a terminal, and become root

Install the package with the command (substituting the real package name, of course):

dpkg -i packagename.deb

If you are installing multiple packages at the same time, you can do it all at once using:

dpkg -i *.deb

NOTE: In a shell command, the asterisk is a wild card in the argument. In this case it will cause the program to apply the command to
any file whose name ends with “.deb”.

If required dependencies are not installed on your system already, you will get unmet dependencies errors as
dpkg does not automatically take care of them. To correct these errors and finish the installation, run

apt-get -f install

Apt-get will attempt to rectify the situation by either installing the needed dependencies (if they are available from
the repositories), or removing your .deb files (if the dependencies cannot be installed).

More install methods

Sooner or later some software that you want to install will not be available in the repositories and you may need to use other
installation methods. These methods include:

RPM packages: Some distributions of Linux use the RPM packaging system (short for RedHat Package Manager, developed by
RedHat Linux). RPM packages are similar to deb packages in many ways, and there is a command-line program available from MEPIS Linux to
convert RPM packages to debs called alien. Alien does not come installed with MEPIS Linux, but is available
from the default repositories.
After you have installed alien on your system, you can use it to install an rpm package with this command (as root):

alien -i packagename.rpm

That will place a deb file with the same name in the location of the rpm file that you can then install as described above. For more detailed information on alien, see the internet version of its man page in the Links and Guides section at the bottom of
this page.

Source code: Any open-source program can be compiled from the programmer's original source code if there is no other option. In ideal circumstances, this is actually a pretty simple operation, but sometimes you can run into errors that require a little more skill to sort through. Source is usually distributed as a tarball (tar.gz or tar.bz2 file). See the Links and Guides section for a tutorial on compiling programs.

Miscellaneous: Many software developers package software in their own custom ways, usually distributed as tarballs or zip files. They may contain setup scripts, ready-to-run binaries, or binary installer programs similar to Windows “setup.exe” programs. In Linux, such programs often end in “.bin”. GoogleEarth, for example, is often distributed this way. When in doubt, consult the installation instructions provided with the software. If you have to compile a package, consult the MEPIS Wiki article below.

8.0: Using MEPIS

This section gives the user a basic orientation to the applications used in MEPIS Linux for common tasks. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list, but to focus on those that are installed with MEPIS, to provide common alternatives, and to point to resources for configuration and use. In topic areas where installed applications are minimal or absent, a representative sample of available applications has been presented.

Click on the link that interests you to see how MEPIS is used in that topic area.

8.1: Internet (client)

Web browsers

Two web browsers, Konqueror and Mozilla's Firefox, are installed with MEPIS Linux and available by clicking Start Menu > Internet. The Debian packagers also provide a rebranded variant of Firefox named IceWeasel, which is updated frequently. If coming from Windows, be sure to consult Section 3.2: Coming from Windows about migrating data.

There are actually three methods of installing Firefox:

From the Debian repos through Synaptic

From the Community repo through Synaptic

By direct download of a blob from the Mozilla site that should be moved as root to the /opt directory. Then create a softlink between the executable: in Dolphin, pres F3 to create two columns, navigate in each to the appropriate location, and just drag the file from /opt/firefox/ to /usr/bin/.

In addition to the stable Firefox package linked off the home page, there are also two other "channels;" the Aurora (experimental) and Beta (testing).

Email

An email client Kmail is installed with MEPIS Linux and available by clicking Start Menu > Internet. Its icon can be found on the left side of the panel. Thunderbird is another popular choice, using the package from the Mozilla site (check the Wiki for directions); or use Debian's rebranded Icedove, installable through the repos. If coming from Windows, be sure to consult Section 3.2: Coming from Windows about migrating data.

Voice chat

Skype is available through Synaptic for MEPIS Linux, though the Linux version may lag behind the Windows version in terms of features and version numbering. Once installed, to start, click Start Menu > Internet > Skype. The latest version of Skype for Linux includes good video support, though suitable webcam drivers are required before this feature will work.

Video chat

No video chat program is installed by default in MEPIS Linux, although Kopete can transmit webcam images under certain protocols. Ekiga and aMSN are available for download from the standard repositories; Ekiga in particular seems to have very good hardware recognition, including audio. See also Skype above.

Usenet

The MEPIS Linux user has a couple of choices for participating in Usenet (USEr NETwork), the distributed internet discussion system. Thunderbird can be set up as a reader by clicking File > New... > Account, selecting Newsgroup account and filling in the server name. There is also the dedicated Pan Newsreader with a large feature set that can be installed through Synaptic.

RSS

In Firefox or IceWeasel, you can simply go to the page with the RSS and click Bookmarks > Subscribe to This Page and the application you have selected under Preferences will open. Other modern browsers behave similarly.

There is also a large range of add-ons that can be installed in Firefox by clicking Tools > Add-ons. Thunderbird or IceDove can be set up for RSS feeds by clicking File > New > Account, selecting RSS News & Blogs and naming the account. Then right-click the new folder and select Manage Subscriptions.

Finally, there is a dedicated desktop application called Akregator, part of the KDE office suite, which can be installed from the repos.

BitTorrent

BitTorrent, the peer-to-peer file sharing protocol, can be managed by the KDE application KTorrent which is installable through Synaptic for use with MEPIS Linux. Once you have downloaded a .torrent file from a tracker site, you simply need to double click it and KTorrent will ask you where to save the package and initiate the download.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth provides a means to connect and exchange information between personal devices such as mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras, etc., over a secure short-range radio frequency. Many basic tools (see Section 5.8) are available by right-clicking the Bluetooth icon on the right side of the panel and are mostly self-explanatory.

Note: make sure that your user name is included in the Bluetooth group using KUser.

Object transfer

Various applications can use Bluetooth to pass objects (files, pictures, vCal entries, vCards, etc.) between devices, though some work may better than others. All rely on the Object Exchange protocol (OBEX), a kind of binary HTTP optimized for ad-hoc wireless links that is built in on many devices like PDAs and mobile phones.

OBEX Client (kbtobexclient) is installed by default, and easily used from the host computer or the device:

From the host computer:

Pair the device with the host computer by right-clicking the Bluetooth icon, selecting Manage Devices, and following the prompts. Make sure the device is in discoverable mode.

Right-click the Bluetooth icon and select Send file....

Follow the prompts to select the file and the device, then finish to send.

From the device:

Pair the device with the host computer if not already done.

Initiate transfer on the device by the appropriate means.

If the transfer fails for some reason, then right-click the Bluetooth icon and select Browse Devices

Now you can use Dolphin in the the usual manner to drag files back and forth between the device to the host computer.

Ripping music

There are various ways to rip music, of which the easiest is to use K3B directly. Open up K3B. On the left hand side there will be a list of the drives available. Simply click on the Audio CD and wait until the files are listed. Highlight the ones you want to rip, right-click, and select Start Ripping. Choose the Destination Base Directory, and click Start Ripping.
K3b handbook: at
http://docs.kde.orgWikipedia: KIO: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KIO

Composing/editing music

Audacity is an excellent cross-platform open-source program for recording and editing sounds. It does not come pre-installed with MEPIS Linux, but can be installed through Synaptic. It is easy to use and comes with excellent instructions.
Audacity home page: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

aRts simulates a complete modular analog synthesizer on your PC. MEPIS Linux includes two tools to work with this program found by clicking Start Menu > Multimedia > More Applications:

Audio Filter Designer (aRts Builder) -- this program permits building custom layouts and configurations for audio mixers and similar applications.

Sound Server Control (aRts Control Tool) -- brings together a number of utilitites for controlling and configuring aRts behavior.

Ripping videos

MEPIS Linux doesn't come with any video ripping software by default, but there are plenty of choices available for download. Acidrip and DVD::Rip are all you need to rip non-copyrighted DVDs to your hard disk. None of these programs will operate on DVDs that have encryption. You will need a package called libdvdcss2 to work with encrypted media, see Section 5.7: Sound configuration: Restricted formats.

Acidrip: AcidRip is a Gtk2::Perl application for ripping and encoding DVD's to DivX4 .avi files with a simple Graphical
Interface. Acidrip runs on top of the excellent MEncoder.
Acidrip home page: http://untrepid.com/acidrip/

dvd::rip: dvd::rip is a full featured DVD copy program written in Perl. It provides an easy to use but feature-rich Gtk+ GUI to control almost all aspects of the ripping and transcoding process.
DVD::Rip home page: http://www.exit1.org/dvdrip/

Editing videos

Video editing can be very hard disk intensive and is best done with a reasonably powerful machine with lots of storage space.

Kdenlive is installed by default and found by clicking Start Menu > Multimedia > Kdenlive (Video Editor). It is an intuitive and powerful multi-track video editor, including most recent video technologies.
Kdenlive home page: http://www.kdenlive.org/

Kino is available for MEPIS Linux from the repos. It features excellent integration with IEEE-1394 for capture, VTR control, and
recording back to the camera.
Kino home page: http://www.kinodv.org/

NOTE: To achieve a higher level of operability with video editing, install the following additional packages:

dvdrtools, dvd+rw-tools, dvd-slideshow, submix-dvd

Graphics

Viewing images

Dolphin has a built in previewer for images with adjustable thumbnail sizes. Select both the Icon and Preview buttons in the toolbar. Fine tune with the zoom buttons at the bottom of the window and settings in Dolphin >Settings >Configure Dolphin >General >Previews.

Digikam is installed by default: Start Menu > Graphics. It is a photo management tool similar to Google's Picasa that comes with a stand-alone photo viewer. To get the most out of Digikam and its plugins, install the following packages:

Editing images

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is available to MEPIS Linux users under Start Menu > Graphics. Check whether the Community repo has a more recent version. It is similar in function to Adobe Photoshop.

Organizing images

TV to PC

Watching television on a PC requires a good recent hardware configuration with sufficient processor speed and memory, software to process the signal for display and an adapter card that works with Linux. A number of programs are available and are listed below; which one works for a given tuner card is VERY DEPENDENT on which native driver(s) your card uses.

Here is a partial list of available software, from basic to advanced, that you can install:

8.3: Office productivity

Office suites

MEPIS Linux comes with access to a great free office suite called LibreOffice, which is the Linux equivalent and near drop-in replacement for Microsoft Office®. The suite is available under Start Menu > Office > LibreOffice.

LibreOffice supports for the .docx, .xlsx and .pptx file formats of Microsoft Office 2007 and above.

NOTE: The utility KCharSelect allows you to find unusual characters (foreign letters, symbols, etc.) and paste them to the clipboard for use in a word processor or other program. It is found by clicking Start Menu > Utilities > KCharSelect (Character selector).

Desktop publishing

LibreOffice can produce simple documents for publication, but for people who want more power and flexibility, more capable programs are available. Scribus is designed for flexible layout and typesetting, and for professional quality equipment, and a detailed published manual is available. Available through Synaptic.

PDF documents

You can view your PDF files by clicking them to open them in the default Okular (see Section 3.4), available by clicking Start Menu > Office > Okular (Document Viewer). For other PDF operations such as copying text or images, merging, etc., follow the link to the MEPIS Wiki.

Contact Manager

MEPIS Linux has an excellent Personal Information Manager available from the repos called Kontact. It links your contacts with your email, calendar, newsreader, journal and notes all in a single window.

Organizer

The organizer KOrganizer is the calendar and scheduling component of Kontact. It is available from the repos. The application fully integrates its components, facilitating many everyday operations with its features.

Business management

Powerful business programs are available for use in MEPIS Linux, though none is installed by default. If not available in Synaptic, they would have to be installed through other methods of software installation (see Section 7.3: Installing programs by other methods).

8.4: Home productivity

Money management

Open-source programs for managing personal finances are available that can import standard formats such as QIF.

Gnucash: A double-entry book-keeping personal finance system similar to Quicken. Also install the package gnucash-docs for a handy tutorial. NOTE: in MEPIS Linux, you must install the package available from the Community repo to avoid dependency problems.
Gnucash home page: http://www.gnucash.org

List management

A good desktop sticky note application is available by default by clicking Start Menu > Utilities > More Applications > KNotes (Popup Notes). Another useful utility is QuickList, available from the repos.

Genealogy

GRAMPS (Genealogical Research and Analysis Management Programming System) is a free Software Project available from the repos. It includes a professional genealogy program and a Wiki. It can use data files exported from other programs exported in the GEDCOM format.

8.5: Security and Privacy

Firewall

Guarddog and Firestarter can protect your system from external hackers while not being intrusive
during normal use. Their interfaces are clear and offer many options, but most users will almost never have to open the applications or make changes.

The most common need to open your firewall application comes when the user is required to permit a protocol through the firewall, for instance when installing a network printer. Check the software's handbook for details on when and how to do this.

Antivirus

MEPIS Linux does not currently require antivirus software because no viruses able to attack and damage a Linux system are in circulation. The purpose of installing an antivirus would be to assist with stopping Linux users from unknowingly passing virus-infected emails and other documents to Windows users, as well as to provide an open-source tool for protection in a dual-boot setup with Windows.

KlamAV is available for MEPIS Linux from the repos. The program is inactive until it is opened by a user with root privileges.

NOTE: it is important to set a strong password in the first place. A strong password:

is not a word in your native language.

is preferably random.

should contain lower and UPPER case.

should include letters, numbers and preferably special signs, e.g. %@^&.

should contain at least 7-8 characters.

Encryption

File or folder encryption is made possible by KGpg, available by clicking Start Menu > Utilities > KGpg (Encryption Tool). This utility is also integrated with Dolphin, so that a file or folder may be encrypted by right-clicking it and selecting the desired feature under Actions.

Privacy

User privacy is enabled system-wide by default in MEPIS Linux, so that items such as recent documents, web browsing history, etc., are cleared during shutdown. Some applications (e.g., Firefox/IceWeasel, Opera) have their own privacy controls as well.

Web content filtering in Linux can be executed using a program such as Dansguardian, available through Synaptic.

8.6: Utilities

NOTE: many more utilities are available for MEPIS than the few installed by default: open Synaptic, click Sections at the bottom of the left panel, and scroll down the list to select the category Utilities.

Accessibility

Various open-source utilities exist for MEPIS Linux users with disabilities. Here are two of the most commonly used, available from the repos.

Kmag: Screen and cursor magnification is availble by installing KMag, which opens a floating window that magnifies everything around your cursor for those with a vision impairment, or for those that need that little more zoom.
KMag home page: http://kmag.sourceforge.net/

Desktop

The following packages for use on the desktop can be found under Start Menu > Utilities.

Klipper (Clipboard Tool): A clipboard tool that docks into the system tray and keeps a record of items you copy to the clipboard, as well
as offering a few additional features like the ability to open a web page.
Klipper overview:
http://userbase.kde.org/Klipper

Folders and Files

MEPIS Linux comes with a powerful graphical program to manage files and folders called Dolphin, the default file manager and file viewer for KDE4. There is also a command-line program available from the repos called Midnight Commander that uses the entire terminal screen.
Each has its advantages, depending on your preferences and the task you need to accomplish.

Ark: A Graphical Archiving tool for KDE, similar to
winzip, with support for zip, tar, tar + compression (lzop, gzip,
bzip2,
bzip, compress) lha, zoo, rar, ar, etc... It is most commonly used
simply by right-clicking a file or folder in Dolphin and selecting
Compress or Extract, depending on the item's current state. You can
also click Start Menu > Utilities > Ark (Archiving Tool).
Ark information page: http://utils.kde.org/projects/ark

Printing

If you have a HP printer, there is a utility package available for MEPIS Linux called HPLIP Toolbox that can be installed from the repos. HPLIP Toolbox is an HP-developed solution for printing, scanning, and faxing with HP inkjet and laser-based printers in Linux. There is also a handy toolbox that sits in the System Tray called hplip-gui available through the repos.
Hplip home page: http://hplip.sourceforge.net/

8.7: System

Finding files and folders

A number of powerful means of finding files or folders, both graphical and command-line, are available for MEPIS Linux.

GUI:

KRunner is a handy search tool, available simply by pressing Alt+F2. See section 5.3.

KFind: This graphical search program can be reached by clicking Start Menu > Find Files/Folders. You can search by name, location, contents or properties.
KFind handbook: open the application and click the Help button.

Nepomuk/Strigi form a critical part of KDE4's approach to the concept of a Semantic Desktop. Nepomuk is a system component that classifies, organizes and presents data, while Strigi is a deep-indexed search daemon. Together they constitute a highly efficient and flexible search system. If not installed by default, they can be enabled by following the directions in the Wiki entry listed below.

CLI:

locate: A command-line tool that can be installed from the repos. For each given pattern, locate searches one or more databases of file names and displays the ones that contain the pattern. For example, typing:

locate firefox

will return an extremely long list with every single file that has the word “firefox” in its name or in its path. This command is best used when the exact file name is known.

whereis: Another command-line tool, installed by default. For each given pattern, whereis searches one or more databases of file names and displays the file names that contain the pattern, but it ignores paths so the return list is much shorter. For example, typing:

How to list your hardware

For configuration you will probably need to discover exactly what hardware is connected to your system. Use one of the following methods.

Basic list

One good place to get information about your hardware is Kinfocenter. Click Start Menu > System > KInfo Center (Info Center), and you will see the list of hardware in the left panel, and details in the right.

Detailed list

You can get more detailed information using a command-line program that comes pre-installed with MEPIS.

Open a terminal and type as root hwinfo to see a detailed list of hardware. If you run the command as an ordinary user, you may get less information.

You can copy and paste this list into a document. Or you can redirect the output to a plain text document by typing this as root:

Screensavers

KDE has its own screensaver program known as KScreensaver, available by clicking Start Menu > System > System Settings > Display and Monitor. There is also a very creative screensaver known as Xscreensaver, available through the repo. If you install the latter, you can install kscreensaver-xsavers to integrate it with System Settings administration location.

Symbolic links

A symbolic link (also soft link or symlink) is a special kind of file that points to another file, much like a shortcut in Windows or an
alias in Macintosh. A symbolic link does not contain any actual data (as a hard link does), it just points to another file somewhere in the
system.

There are two ways to create a symlink: Dolphin or the command line.

Dolphin: Navigate to the file or folder (target of the link) that you want to use under another name, then use the split screen icon to open another Dolphin window and navigate to where you want the symlink to be located. Drag the target to the symlink location. A box will open with choices to Move Here, Copy Here, or Link Here. Select Link Here and you're done! Name it however you want, and you have a symbolic link to the target file —which is still in its original location.

Command line: Open a terminal and type:

ln -s TargetFile LinkName

Be sure to include full path as well as file/folder names. The -s switch indicates that a symbolic link and not a hard link (that points directly to data) is being created.

System monitoring and scheduling

A variety of tools to help you monitor your system are available in MEPIS Linux. can be found at various locations under the Start Menu > System menu tree. For details on these tools, check the MEPIS Wiki.

Info Center: KInfoCenter provides you with a centralized and convenient overview of your KDE and system settings.
The information center is made up of multiple modules. Each module is a separate application, but the information center organizes all of
these programs into a convenient location.
KInfocenter handbook: http://userbase.kde.org/KInfoCenter

KwikDisk: A handy panel applet that is available from the repos for MEPIS Linux. It displays the available file devices (hard drive
partitions, floppy and CD/DVD drives, etc.) along with information on their free space, type and mount point. It also allows you to mount and unmount drives. It provides as well an easy entry for KDiskFree, below.

KDiskFree: A graphical tool to display disk usage as a bar chart. It will only display information on mounted drives. You may need to right-click on the device and choose mount if the device you want to view is currently unmounted. Right-click it to see something like this:

Battery Monitor: Kpowersave is a utility designed to assist with power management in laptops, but it works
equally well with desktops and some Uninterruptible Power Supplies, enabling the system to shut down nicely when a low power condition is found. Install it from the repos.
Kpowersave home page: http://sourceforge.net/projects/powersave/

Performance Monitor: KSysguard is the KDE Task Manager and Performance Monitor. It can be used to monitor system
performance, memory usage and to shut down non-responsive applications.
KSysguard handbook: at http://userbase.kde.org/KSysGuard

Ksensors: A graphical frontend to the lmsensors package for monitoring a motherboard, it allows
you to access information from temperature and fan speed sensors. After installing it from the repos, you should run sensors-detect in a root terminal and answer yes to all prompts.
Ksensors home page: http://ksensors.sourceforge.net/

8.8: Good practices

This section covers the good basic practices that MEPIS Linux users should follow to keep their system efficient and secure.

Backup

The most important practice is to back up your data and configuration files regularly, a process that is easy in MEPIS Linux. It is highly recommended that you back up to a different drive than the one your data is on! You can buy a new storage device, or use an old hard drive if you can find one.

Back up data:

Make sure you back up your data, including documents, graphics, music, and mail. By default, most of this is stored in your Home directory.

Back up configuration files:

Here is a list of items for backup:

/home: Holds most of the personal configuration files.

/root: Holds the changes you have made as root.

/etc/X11/xorg.conf: (X configuration file).

/etc/apt/sources.list: (apt sources file).

/boot/grub/menu.lst: (Grub menu file).

Back up a list of installed program packages:

It's also a good idea to save in your /home/username
directory a file that contains the list of programs that you have installed with Synaptic, apt-get or Gdebi (see Section 7: Software Management ). If in the future you need to reinstall, you'll just have to paste the names of the files into an apt-get install command. You can create an inventory of all packages on your system installed since installation with:

Disk cloning

As a precaution in case of complete hard disk failure, some users create a complete image of their harddrive, a technique called disk
cloning or ghosting. In case a new harddrive must be installed, the user can simply restore the entire image to be back in
operation in a few minutes. Open-source (e.g., Partimage, G4L) and proprietary (e.g., Acronis) ghosting software are available to
carry out this procedure. Depending on the software used, you may have to carry this out from a separate drive or a LiveDVD.

Cloning can also be used to make an identical working copy of your hard disk or partition to a second disk or partition with an equal or larger size than the original by using the command line tool dd. Unlike the cloning tools listed above, dd copies the hard disk or partition on a sector by sector basis, so everything is copied, including unused sectors. That being the case, it can take some time for larger drives.

Remove unneeded services

It's a good idea to remove services that start at boot time and you don't need both to improve security and to limit resources
utilization. To stop a program, for example called UnneededProgram from starting, execute this command as
root:

Disk maintenance

It is rare that you will need to do much disk maintenance compared to Windows, since Linux operating systems and the disk filesystems they utilize are designed differently. Still, there may come a moment when you want to check for partition/disk errors, something done in Windows with scandisk. To check for filesystem and disk read/write errors, go through the following steps:

When run from within the installed operating system, the Assistant will only test the drive.

If you want to actually repair problems, you need to run the System Assistant after booting from the LiveDVD and choose bad
blocks. The Assistant will ask you interactively if you want to repair problems it uncovers.

NOTE: The act of defragmenting or “defragging” a drive, so well known in Windows®, is ordinarily unneeded in MEPIS Linux as long as you have a standard Linux filesystem such as ext3, ext4 or ReiserFS.

Upgrade precautions

These are some time-tested rules of thumb for new users of MEPIS Linux to avoid getting into trouble when upgrading their software:

Always read the prompts carefully.

Use the recommended URLs in your sources.list of software repositories.

If upgrading in a terminal, use upgrade. Never use dist-upgrade or smart
upgrade.

When given the choice between the maintainer's config file and what's on your system, take the time to consider the options. If you have no other idea, then accept system changes coming from the MEPIS development source, but keep your current one for all others.

Sometimes packages are held back because they need to install or upgrade additional packages to be upgraded. Other times they are held back because they will uninstall large portions of your system if you install them. If you can't figure out the reason, it is better to leave them alone.

8.9: Games

Because of space limitation, MEPIS Linux comes with only a few simple games, but many more are available. Browsing the extensive list of games available through Synaptic (click Sections >Games at the bottom of the left panel) or following the links below will bring up many other titles for your enjoyment.

Adventure Games

There are no Adventure Games installed by default. Here are a couple of popular ones you can install via Synaptic to get you
started.

Frozen Bubble: Colored bubbles are frozen at the top of the playing screen. As the Ice Press descends, you must pop
out groups of frozen bubbles before the Press reaches your shooter.
Frozen Bubble home page: http://www.frozen-bubble.org/

Board Games

The classic Minesweeper is available by clicking Start Menu > Games > Tactics & Strategy > KMines (Minesweeper-like Game). There are other excellent board games available from the repos for you to try.

Tactics & Strategy Games

SameGame: Ksame is based on the Mac SameGame: eliminate connected blocks of marbles from a rectangular board. Gravity
rearranges the board after every group elimination. One player.
KSame handbook: http://kde.org/applications/games/ksame/

Lbreakout2: LBreakout2 is a breakout-style arcade game where you use your paddle to aim a ball at bricks until all bricks
are destroyed. Many levels and surprises.
Lgames home page: http://lgames.sourceforge.net/

8.10: Kids stuff

While there is no kids stuff provided with the default MEPIS Linux installation besides a few games, there is a great deal available
through Synaptic or from online resources. You can also search the repos for junior- to find packages associated with the DebianJr project (see Links and Guides). The following suggestions will give you a sense of what is available.

TuxMath — arithmetic learning game. Similar to the classic “Missile Command” game, except to shoot down the falling bombs kids
must solve a mathematical problem and type in the answer.
TuxMath home page:
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxmath/

Desktop Fun

Xpenguins — penguins walk around your screen. Can be customized with other characters like Lemmings and Pooh Bear (need
to enable “allow programs to run in root window” in KDE).Xpenguins home page: http://xpenguins.seul.org/

PhunLand — Phun is a free game like 2D physics sandbox where you can play with physics like never before. The playful synergy of science and art is novel, and makes Phun as educational as it is entertaining.
How to use Phun: http://www.phunland.com/wiki/Home

Graphics

TuxPaint — fun and easy to use drawing program for young children. Sound effects and a cartoon character help let the user
know what's going on, and keeps them entertained.
TuxPaint home page: http://www.tuxpaint.org/

Highlight the akonadi entry and then click the Use as Standard button if that is what you want. Then click Apply.

Gcal. Options include:

Thunderbird. There is an extension available that mounts Google Calendar on a tab with read-write capability, and others that allow the Lightning plugin calendar to read and write to Gcal.

You can sync your Google Calendar so that it will be available in any KDE application:

Install akonadi-kde-resource-googledata from the repos

Log out and back in to restart KDE

Click Start Menu > System > System Settings > Personal Information to get to the Configure KDE Resources page

Use the pull-down menu to select Calendar, then click Add...

Click Manage Calendar Sources > Add...

Highlight Akonadi Google Calendar Source > OK

Provide account info > OK

Click out to return to the Configure KDE Resources page

Highlight and click the Use as Standard button if that is what you want.

Now if you install KOrganizer, all your Gcal data will be available. For other calendar apps, you may need to point to the akonadi_gcal_resource file in /home/username/.kde/share/config/

Gtasks. In Thunderbird, tasks are accessible through the Calendar extension discussed above. In addition, there is a handy "Gtasks" widget available for your desktop, see link below for details.

Gdocs. Options include:

LibreOffice has an extension called gdocs that helps directly upload a file to Google Docs.

Google Earth. This app can be installed by direct download or through the repositories; check the Wiki for installation and setup details.

Google Talk. This chat program can be used in Kopete when properly configured, see directions below. In addition, there is a browser plugin called google-talkplugin available from the repos that allows you to make a voice or video call to someone from your Gmail account.

Links and Guides for Section 9.1

9.2: Development

Introduction

If you are a programmer or interested in programming, MEPIS Linux is an excellent environment for you to work in. Although only rudimentary development software is provided in the default install, a wealth of tools is readily available from the repositories; many of these are the same tools used to create MEPIS Linux! To see what is available, open Synaptic, click on the Sections button in the lower left panel, then on Development.

Text Editors

GUI

A text editor is available by default in MEPIS Linux that can be accessed by clicking Start Menu > Utilities > KWrite (Text Editor). It is a simple graphic text editor, with syntax highlighting, code folding, dynamic word wrap and more.
KWrite and Kate home page: http://kate-editor.org/

Kate: A good graphic textfile editor for programming and config files, Kate is available from the repos and offers syntax highlighting for many languages, multiple files that open in a single instance, and many other nice features.
KWrite and Kate home page: http://kate-editor.org/

Programming tools

C and C++

The GNU C compiler, gcc, is included in MEPIS Linux by default. The GNU C++ compiler is available from the repositories in the
g++ package; a number of other C and C++ compilers are also available. The Kdevelop IDE, while it supports several
languages, was written with C++ and C in mind. Install it from the repositories with the kdevelop package.

Java

MEPIS Linux ships with OpenJDK Java runtime; the full developer kit can be installed by installing the
sun-java6-jdk package. The Java 5 runtime environment and development kit are also available, and the GNU gcj Java
compiler. Newer versions for Linux are available from Sun's website.

The popular Eclipse IDE is available from the repositories; it can be installed by simply selecting the “eclipse”
package, but there are many optional add-on packages for it as well. The BeanShell interpreted Java environment is available from the repos, and the NetBeans IDE, available free from Sun, also works on MEPIS Linux.

Python

Python 2.6.x comes preinstalled on MEPIS Linux. You can launch the interactive interpreter by typing python at the
console. Python 2.4 as well as a large selection of additional python libraries are also available from the repositories, where you will also find the eric, idle, and boa-constructor IDEs.

Mono (.NET)

The “mono” packages in the repository provide a .NET-compatible runtime and development environment (for C#, ASP.NET, etc). Install the mono-2.0-devel package to get the runtime environment and development tools. A mono IDE monodevelop is also available.

Other tools

CVS is a version control utility available from the repositories in the cvs package. Although there are
newer and more feature-packed version control utilities, CVS is mature and widely supported by other tools.

Glade is a GUI designer for python or C++ applications using the GTK toolkit. It can be installed from the
repositories as glade.

Qt4-designer is a GUI designer made for KDE/QT applications and available from the repos.

Web Development

MEPIS Linux does not come with default applications already installed for designing web pages, but several are available from the
repositories:

Bluefish is a powerful editor targeted towards programmers and webdesigners, with many options to write websites,
scripts and programming code. It can be installed with the bluefish package.

KompoZer is a complete web authoring system that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web page editing.

Quanta Plus is a highly stable and feature-rich web development environment that starts with the best architectural foundations and is designed for efficient and natural use. It is in the Community Repositories and can be installed through Synaptic.

For those looking to do web development (as opposed to web design), the repositories boast a wide array of
web frameworks, services, API's and tools. Check the MEPIS Wiki for more information

Development utilities

Some handy development utilities are available for MEPIS Linux from the repos. Here are two of the more commonly used:

KLinkStatus allows you to search internal and external links throughout your web site and view them in a hierarchical format or site tree. Simply point it to a single page and choose the depth to search.

KRegExpEditor enables you to write and edit regular expressions graphically rather than using plain ASCII syntax.

Kompare permits a graphic comparison between two texts, with easy tools for managing any differences.

KFileReplace replaces some strings with others in a lot of files in a single operation.

9.3: Windows® programs under MEPIS Linux

Introduction

There is a certain number of applications, both open-source and commercial, that will allow Windows applications to run under MEPIS Linux. They are referred to as emulators, meaning that they replicate the functions of Windows on a Linux platform. Many MS Office applications, games and other programs can be run using an emulator with varying degrees of success ranging from near-native speed and functionality to only basic performance.

Open-source

Wine is the primary open-source Windows emulator for MEPIS Linux. It is a kind of compatibility layer for running Windows programs, but does not require Microsoft Windows® to run the applications. New Wine versions are rapidly packaged by Community members and made available on the MEPIS Community forum and then in the Community Repository.

Commercial

CrossOver Office allows you to install many popular Windows productivity applications, plugins and games in Linux,
without needing a Microsoft Operating System license. Supports Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint (up to 2003) particularly well.

Cedega is designed to run DirectX and OpenGL games from the Microsoft Windows Platform under Linux. Popular games such as Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Battlefield 2142, World of WarCraft, Madden 2007 and Civilization IV can be played on MEPIS Linux with this application.

9.4: Virtual machines

Introduction

Virtual machine applications are a class of programs that simulate a "virtual computer" in memory, allowing you to install any operating
system on the machine. It is useful for testing, running non-native applications, and providing users the feeling of having a machine of
their own. Many MEPIS Linux users make use of virtual machine software to run Microsoft Windows “in a window” to seamlessly
provide access to software written for Windows on their desktop. It is also used for testing to avoid installation.

Applications

A number of virtual machine software applications for Linux exist, both open-source and proprietary. MEPIS makes it particularly easy to use VirtualBox, so we will focus on that here. For details and the most recent developments, see the MEPIS Wiki and MEPIS Community Virtual Machines/Emulators forum linked below.

Here is an overview of the basic steps to set up and run VirtualBox:

Prepare the machine -- You will need some packages before you can install and run VirtualBox. Open a terminal, become root, and type or paste in this command, which will pull in the necessary software:

m-a prepare

Install VirtualBox -- This is most easily done from the repos through Synaptic. To have access to the most recent version, add this repository (see Section 7.1):

deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian squeeze contrib

It is also possible to download directly from the VirtualBox website. Be sure to reboot after installation.

Create a Virtual Machine -- To create a virtual machine start VirtualBox, then click the New icon on the toolbar. You will need a Windows CD or a Linux ISO. Follow the wizard, accepting all suggested settings unless you know better--you can always change them later. Once the machine is set up, then you can select the mount point to be either the Host Drive or a Virtual CD/DVD Disk File (ISO). See the instructions below for making those assignments.

Install Guest Additions -- Be sure to install VirtualBox GuestAdditions to your Guest OS by booting into the Guest OS, then clicking Devices >Install Guest Additions and pointing toward the VBoxGuestAdditions.iso that it will automatically locate. This will allow you to enable sharing files between Guest and Host and to adjust your display in various ways so that it suits your environment and habits.

Install Extension Pack -- For VirtualBox V4.0 and greater, you should download and install the Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack from the Oracle web site (see Links and Guides). After the file is downloaded, navigate to it with Dolphin and click on the file's icon. The Extension Pack will install automatically.

Select a Host Drive or Virtual CD/DVD Disk File – Click Settings > Storage, and a dialog box will pop up where you will see in the middle a Storage Tree with an IDE Controller and a SATA Controller below it. It looks something like this:
By clicking on the CD/DVD Drive icon in the Storage Tree, you will see the CD/DVD Drive icon appear in the Attributes section in the right side of the window. Click on the CD/DVD Drive icon in the Attributes section to open a drop-down menu where you can assign the Host Drive or a Virtual CD/DVD disc file (ISO) to be mounted on the CD/DVD Drive. (You can select a different ISO file by clicking on Choose a Virtual CD/DVD disk file and navigating to the file.)

Run the machine. The device you selected (ISO or CD/DVD) will be mounted when you start the virtual machine.

When a new kernel is installed, the modules must be rebuilt (including for the Guest Additions). If the dkms package is installed, VirtualBox should automatically rebuild its kernel modules (drivers), provided the kernel headers and build environment are also installed.

Excellent documentation is available through Help on the menu bar or as a PDF from the website.

9.5: Alternate Window Managers

Traditional window managers

A window manager in Linux is essentially the component which controls the appearance of windows and provides the means by which the user can interact with them. MEPIS Linux comes with the K Desktop Environment, or KDE for short, which provides basic desktop functions, many applications for daily needs (Kmail, Amarok, K3b, etc.), and development tools and user documentation as well. MEPIS 11 uses KDE 4.5.3 because it is stable; it will move to later KDE 4.x versions when appropriate.

KDE is a very powerful desktop environment, but others are available from the repos. Once installed, you can choose the window manager you want from the Menu >Session Type on the login screen (KDM) and log in to as you normally would. For Gnome, you can replace KDM with the Gnome login screen GDM.

Fluxbox is derived from Blackbox, and retains theme compatibility with it, while adding numerous extra features. Very lightweight and configureable, it is supplied with antiX already configured.
Fluxbox home page: http://fluxbox.sourceforge.net/
Fluxbox Wiki: http://fluxbox-wiki.org/

Links and Guides for Section 9.5

9.6: Accessing other partitions

Overview

Immediately after installing MEPIS Linux you have access to the root filesystem. Everything you need to run MEPIS Linux is already mounted there. But you may need to take extra steps to access data elsewhere, or you might want to set up a partitioning schema that safely stores your data outside your /home directory partition. In cases like that, you may need to know how to mount partitions other than your root partition.

But what exactly is a partition?
Here is a good, basic definition from the Linux Documentation Project:

Partitioning is a means to divide a single hard drive into many logical drives. A partition is a contiguous set of blocks on a drive that are treated as an independent disk. A partition table is an index that relates sections of the hard drive and attached devices to partitions.

When you installed MEPIS Linux, it set up a root filesystem on the partition that you designated. But other partitions can be mounted to the root filesystem and so be made available to the system and its users.

In general, a partition can be mounted dynamically whenever it becomes physically connected, mounted manually when you need access to it, or mounted automatically upon boot. In terms of actual process, dynamic mounting is done by the by udev device manager, while the options for manual mounting as well as for automatic mounting at boot are governed by the configuration file /etc/fstab. The udev device manager listens for devices being added or removed from the system, such as a USB drive, and makes them available to the system. Usually, fstab is the only one that users might need to modify.

The following sections discuss these methods in more detail.

9.6.1: Dynamic mounting

Dynamic mounting occurs when a device is plugged into the system. Most of the time, it will allow you to have access to the device's partition without any action on your part, usually through a window opened up by KDE. Thus, when you plug in a device (USB memory stick, camera, PDA, etc.), the window that pops up showing the contents of that device ultimate depends on dynamic mounting by udev.

The following description udev outlines the mounting process (edited from Wikipedia):

udev is a generic kernel device manager that runs as a daemon [background process] on a Linux system and listens for a new device being initialized (or a device being removed) in the system. The system provides a set of rules that match the properties of the discovered device. A matching rule will possibly name and create a device node and run configured programs to set-up and configure the device. udev rules can match on properties like the kernel subsystem, the kernel device name, the physical location of the device, or properties like the device's serial number. Rules can also request information from external programs to name a device or specify a custom name that will always be the same, regardless of the order devices are discovered by the system.

Rarely, however, no matching occurs and the device is not made available to the system by KDE. This may be due to a hardware problem or a udev problem. It is easy to find out whether the device has been recognized by the system. First plug it in, then open a terminal and type:

dmesg | tail

If the hardware has been recognized, you should see its name and address in the output. That means that the problem lies at the next step, and you may have to modify udev (not recommended for newbies). Search first on your device ID number (e.g., ID 03f0:2112) to see what others have done. For guidance on writing udev rules, consult the how-to below.

9.6.2: Manual mounting

If you need access only on an occasional basis to a partition that is not on a device dynamically mounted, such as a partition on your HDD with another OS, you can mount it manually. The file manager Dolphin makes it very easy to mount any partitions by dragging them to the Places panel on the left side, then simply clicking on them, as already described in Section 3.4.

KwikDisk

Another graphical application for mounting partitions is KwikDisk, a kicker applet that will show up in the system tray when started by clicking Start Menu > System > More Applications > KwikDisk (Removeable Media Utility). It has a variety of uses:

It displays the available file devices (hard drive partitions, floppy and CD drives, etc.) along with information on their free space, type and mount point.

It allows you to easily mount and unmount drives. Just click on the partition you want to mount (e.g. sda1, sdb1, sdb2, etc.). This will work for any Linux partition, and for Windows 98, 2000 and XP as well. You may have to provide root's password, depending on how permissions are set up.

It has a menu entry for KDiskFree, a utility that measures available space.

Simply click on the device that interests you to view the contents, and you will something like this (note KwikDisk icon at lower left corner):

9.6.3: Automatic mounting

In order to set MEPIS to automatically mount another partition at boot time so that it will be accessible at all times, you will need to edit options in the /etc/fstab configuration file. Before we get into the details, let's go over the basic structure of every line in that file:

The fstab file

The file /etc/fstab has two parts: permanently available devices and, starting after the comment line: “Dynamic entries below.” These are partitions detected at the time you installed MEPIS Linux, but which are not integral to operating MEPIS. They may be manually mounted, per Section 9.6.2, above. When they are mounted, the settings listed in /etc/fstab will govern their placement and permissions in the root filesystem.

But when you wish to change a partition from the “occasionally mounted manually” category to one that is automatically mounted all the time, a few changes need to be made to the /etc/fstab configuration file.

Here is a typical entry for the first primary partition of a main hard drive:

/dev/sda1 / ext3 defaults,noatime 1 1

Each of the six elements of this entry contains information that must be presented in a specific order, as we can show with this table where the same entry is divided out into the standard categories:

[Device]

[Mount Point]

[Filesystem]

[Options]

[dump]

[fsck order]

/dev/sda1

/

ext3

defaults, noatime

1

1

Now that the structure of the entries makes some sense, we can proceed to edit the file.

Automounting a partition to the root filesystem

As with most Linux configuration files, editing this configuration file (see Section 10.3) can easily be done with a text editor, after you back up the original file.

This will copy the current /etc/fstab into your /home/username/Backups directory under the name “fstab.original” in case you need to restore it later. To restore it you would need to issue this command as root:

cp /home/username/Backups/fstab.original /etc/fstab

Note that in the first command, you copied a system file to your personal directory using the tilde —a shorthand for “user home directory.” All cool. But the command to restore a system file needs to be much more precise. In addition to issuing the command as the root user, you need to specify the user home directory more strictly —from the root point of view.

To open up the current /etc/fstab in the text editor kwrite, with root privileges, type in konsole:

kdesu kwrite /etc/fstab

Locate the line designating the partition you want to have mounted; the first column will refer to it as /dev/sdxn where x is a letter and n is a number. Highlight the entire line and cut it, then paste it into the upper part of the file. For example let's use /dev/sda3 as it originally appears:

VERY IMPORTANT: you must change the option in column 4 to auto! Do not alter anything in column 3, which may or may not already contain the word “auto.” Column 3 refers to filesystem type, not to mounting options. The lines should now look similar to this, with only one word changed:

Check to see that the original line for the partition is missing from the bottom section of Dynamic entries, and exists only in the new, upper section. An error will result if the line designating any partition exists twice.

Save the file and exit KWrite. To put your changes into effect, open a terminal, become root, and type:

mount -a

Now fstab will be parsed and all filesystems that are set to mount at boot will be immediately mounted if they are not already. You will find the partition mounted under /mnt.

Automounting a partition to a subdirectory

To make it more convenient, you can mount it to another location. Let's say you want your Windows XP partition to show up as a mounted directory under /home. Here's how:

First, create the folder where you want it to be. Open Dolphin, right-click an empty space and click Create New >Folder... and enter XP as the name we're going to use.

Open up the current /etc/fstab in the text editor KWrite, with root privileges, by typing in konsole:

kdesu kwrite /etc/fstab

As before, back up the file before you start working on it.

Locate the line in the dynamic section for the partition you want to mount in /home. Here we will assume the original line looks like this, though yours may differ:

/dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1 /mnt/hda1 ntfs-3g defaults,noatime 0 0

Cut it from the dynamic section and paste it above in the fixed section. Then change the mount location to your new directory:

/dev/hda1 /home/UserName/XP/ ntfs-3g defaults,noatime 0 0

As before, if you see the word noauto in your particular entry, you should change it to auto.

Save and exit. When you reboot, your hda1 partition's contents should show up in the “XP” subdirectory in your /home directory.

After first boot, you may find that MEPIS has changed the ownership of the subdirectory mointpoint to “root”. For mounting an NTFS partition this may not be a problem, as the default NTFS mount options set the group ID to “users” and allow that group rw permissions. If it is an ext3 or other Linux partition, you will not have write permission. So the user named "joany" would change the ownership back with the following CLI command, using Konsole:

or by checking your home directory in Dolphin using the Detailed List View mode. Once it's fixed, subsequent booting does not affect the ownership.

Troubleshooting

Windows FAT partition

Although Windows NTFS partitions (as used in Windows 2000 and later) usually present little problem, there is sometimes difficulty with the necessary system permissions to write or delete files on a Windows FAT partition (as in Windows 98). If this seems to be the case on your computer, you'll need to insert a step after Step 4 above:

Inserted Step: setting permissions when mounting a VFAT partition

Set the following additional mount options for a Windows FAT partition. Note that MEPIS should already have identified it as a vfat partition in the third column, so all your changes need only be in the fourth column (bolded below):

/dev/sda5 /mnt/sda5 vfat user,users,gid=disk,umask=0000,utf8=true 0 0

If you need to set something other than full read/write/execute permissions for everyone who logs into your MEPIS system, you will need to do more study before fine-tuning your mounting permissions.

9.7: Scripts

Introduction

A script is a simple text file that can be written directly from a keyboard, and consists of a logically sequenced series of operating system commands. The commands are handled one at a time by a command interpreter which in turn requests services from the operating system. The default command interpreter in MEPIS is Bash. The commands must be understandable to Bash, and command lists have been established for programming use. A shell script is the Linux counterpart of batch programs in the Windows world.

Scripts are used throughout the Linux OS and applications that run on it as an economical method of executing multiple commands in an easily created and modified manner. During boot, for instance, many scripts are invoked to start up specific processes such as printing, networking, etc. Scripts are also used for automated processes, system administration, application extensions, user controls, etc. Finally, users of all kinds can employ scripts for their own purposes.

A simple script

Let's do a very simple (and famous) script to get the basic idea.

Open the text editor KWrite (Start Menu > Utilities), and type:

#!/bin/bash
clear
echo "Good morning, world!"

All scripts open with a shebang as in the first line: it is a combination of a number sign, an exclamation point, and the path to the command interpreter--here, Bash is the interpreter and it is found in the standard location for user applications.

This simple script doesn't do very much, but it does establish the principle that a simple text file can be used to send commands to control your system's behavior.

Example of a useful script

Let's look at a useful script for the ordinary user that reduces all the moves involved in backing up multiple sets of files into a single keystroke. The script below relies itself on a system script called Rdiff-backup that would need to be installed from the repos for the script to work. It copies one directory to another, keeping a record of the differences in a special subdirectory so you can still recover files lost some time ago. (Incidentally, Rdiff-backup uses in turn on a script called Diff.)

In this example, a user named “newbie” wants to set up a script to back up documents, music, mail and pictures from the /home directory to an external drive.

Lines 2-8: a number sign has been placed in front of these lines (called "commenting them out") to indicate to Bash that they are not part of the sequence of commands to be executed. Their purpose here is to provide anyone who looks at this script with information about such things as the script's origin, creator, purpose, and license (metadata).

Line 10: good scripts separate the commands into clearly labelled procedural sections, bolded here and in lines 15 and 22.

Lines 12-14: the three devices to be used for the backup have to first be mounted so they are available to the system.

Lines 18-21: here bash is told to use the system script rdiff-backup to compare the original directories (sources) with the backup directories (targets), copy over the differences it finds, and keep a record of the changes.

Lines 25-27: once the backup work is done, the external drives are unmounted from the system.

Anyone who wanted to use such a script would have to carry out a few execution steps:

Copy the whole script.

Right-click the desktop and select Create New >Text file...

Give the file a name that makes sense (no spaces, though), and add the "sh" extension so you will recognize it is a script. For this example, you might select Backup_DocsMusicMailPictures.sh

Open the new text file and paste in the script.

Change any names, locations, etc. to what they are on your particular system. In the example above, you may well have different names and/or locations for the directories to be backed up, and different devices where they are supposed to go.

Save that script in a place you can easily find it when you need it, let's say you make a new directory /home/scripts for it.

Right-click the script, select Properties, click on the Permissions tab, and check the Is executable box and click OK.

When you are ready to backup, open a terminal and type:

sh /home/scripts/Backup_DocsMusicMailPictures.sh

Hint: use the tab key to autocomplete the file name after you type the first few letters.

10: Under the Hood

10.0: Introduction

Users coming from Microsoft Windows® typically find a lot of unfamiliar concepts, and get frustrated trying to do things the way they are accustomed to doing them. This section will give you a conceptual overview of some basic aspects of MEPIS Linux, and how they differ from other systems to help ease your transition.

MEPIS Linux ultimately inherits its fundamental design from Unix, an operating system that has been around in various forms since 1970 —much earlier than MS-Windows®. MEPIS Linux is also mainly composed of free, open-source software (FOSS) (i.e. software that is distributed without restrictions on the use of its source code). The Unix heritage plus the open-source nature of MEPIS have a strong impact on its design.

Unix provided the foundation for the development of Linux starting in 1991. As is well known, Linus Torvalds united his developing kernel with the free software framework of the GNU Project, started by Richard Stallman in 1984, and the resulting OS is often referred to as GNU-Linux.

A user interface of some sort needs to serve for input and control. At its simplest, this interface is a command line, as in the original Unix and also in the original MS-DOS prior to MS-Windows, but today all the most popular Linux versions use a graphical user interface (GUI) that relies on the X Window System, a software system and protocol that provides the basic framework for graphical display.

Finally, MEPIS builds directly on the highly popular Linux distribution called Debian, its direct upstream source of fundamental structures and features. Founded in 1993, Debian has become preeminent in areas such as package development, release protocol, organizational structure and commitment to free software. To the solid core provided by Debian's stable release, MEPIS adds user-friendly features such as a very simple installation tool, excellent hardware recognition, a set of configuration “Assistants,” and a LiveDVD framework—all supported by a lively and knowledgeable Community that contributes to MEPIS the artwork and documentation, as well as additional software packages.

10.1: The filesystem structure

Orientation

There are two basic uses of the term “filesystem.” The first is the Operating System's Filesystem. This refers to the files and their organization that the operating system uses to keep track of all the hardware and software resources it has as its disposal while running. The other use of the term filesystem refers to the Disk Filesystem, designed for the storage and retrieval of files on a data storage device, most commonly a disc drive. The Disk Filesystem is set when the disk partition is first formatted, prior to writing any data on the partition.

The Operating System's Filesystem

One of the first problems many new Linux users struggle with is how the filesystem works. If you have been looking around your MEPIS Linux system trying to find the C:\ drive or D:\ drive, for instance, you are searching in vain: MEPIS handles hard drives and other storage media differently from Windows. Rather than having a separate filesystem tree on every device, MEPIS has a single filesystem tree ( called the root of the filesystem) which is marked “/” and contains every attached device. When a storage device is added to the system, its filesystem is attached to a directory or subdirectory of the file system; this is called mounting a drive or device.

If you open Dolphin and browse to “/”, you will notice a number of directories with names based on the Unix Filesystem Hierarchy Standard. Here is a simple description of the major directories in MEPIS along with a common example of when users commonly work with files there (see MEPIS Wiki for details):

/bin This directory contains binary program files which are used by the system during startup, but which also may be required by user actions once the system is fully up and running.

Example: Many basic command-line programs, such as the Bash shell, and utilities like dd, grep, ls, and mount are located here, in addition to programs only used by the OS.

/boot As you might guess, files that Linux needs to boot are located here. The Linux kernel, the core of the Linux operating system, is kept here, as are bootloaders such as GRUB.

Example: users modify /boot/grub/menu.lst to change the list of bootable operating systems or the length of time to wait for default booting.

/dev In this directory are special files that link to the various input/output devices on the system.

/home Here the user's personal directories (data and settings) reside. If there is more than one user, a separate subdirectory is set up for each. No user (except root) can read another user's home directory. The user's directory contains both hidden (where the filename is preceded by a dot) and visible files; hidden files can be revealed by clicking View >Show Hidden Files in Dolphin.

Example: users typically organize their own files at first by using default directories such as Documents, Music, etc.

Example: your Firefox profile is located in .mozilla/firefox

/lib This directory contains shared object libraries (analogous to Windows DLL's) that are required at boot time. In
particular, kernel modules will be found here, under /lib/modules.

Example: no file here is commonly accessed by users.

/media Files for removable media such as CDroms, floppy drives, and USB memory sticks are installed here when the media are automounted.

Example: After dynamically mounting a peripheral device like a flash drive, you may access it here.

/mnt Physical storage devices must be mounted here before they can be accessed. After drives or partitions are defined in the /etc/fstab file, then their filesystem is mounted here.

Example: Users can access drives and partitions mounted here.

/opt This is the intended location of major third-party application subsystems installed by the user.

Example: if you want to install Google Earth, this is where you place it. Some distros, including MEPIS, also place user-installed programs in /usr subdirectories.

/root This is the home directory for the root (adminstrator) user. Note that this is not the same as “/” the filesystem root.

Example: no file here is commonly accessed by users, but files saved while logged in as the root user may be saved here.

/sbin Programs are installed here if they are required by the system startup scripts but will not normally be run by
users, other than root—in other words, system administration utilities.

Example: no file here is commonly accessed by users, but this is where files like modprobe and ifconfig are located.

/tmp This is the location of temporary files produced by programs—such as compilers—as they run. In general, these are short-term temporary files, of use to a program only while it is running.

Example: no file here is commonly accessed by users.

/usr This directory contains many things for user applications, and is analogous in some ways to the Windows directory “Program Files”.

Example: many executables are located in (/usr/bin)

Example: documentation (/usr/docs) and configuration files, graphics and icons are in (/usr/share).

/var This directory contains files that are constantly changing while Linux is running, e.g. logs, system mail and queued processes.

Example: no file here is commonly accessed by users.

The Disk Filesystem

The disk filesystem is something about which the average user does not need to be much concerned. The default disk filesystem used by MEPIS Linux is called ext3, a version of the ext2 filesystem that is journaled —i.e., it writes changes to a log before enacting them, rendering it more robust. The filesystem ext3 is set during installation when your your hard drive is formatted.

By and large, ext3 has more years on its track record than any of its rivals, and combines stability and speed; for these reasons, we do not recommend installing MEPIS onto a different disk filesystem unless you are well-educated in the differences. However, MEPIS can read and write to many other formatted disk filesystems, and may even be installed on some of them, if for some reason one of them is preferred over ext3. A journaling file system called ext4 is being developed as the successor to ext3 and is also available.

10.2: Permissions

MEPIS is an account-based operating system. This means that no program can run without a user account to run under, and any running program is thereby limited by the permissions granted to the user who started it.

In MEPIS Linux there is one and only one user account that has permission to do everything; this account is called root (not to be confused with the “root” of the filesystem, mentioned in Section 10.1 see: root filesystem). The root user has a unique password that is set during system installation. When you run programs (such as Synaptic or MEPIS System Assistants) that need to access or change protected operating system files and directories, you will be prompted for the root password. Once you enter it, MEPIS will be able to make the specific changes it needs.

NOTE: Much of the security and stability that Linux is known for hinges on the proper use of limited user accounts, and the protection provided by default file and directory permissions. For this reason, you should operate as root only for a procedure that requires it. Never log into MEPIS as root to run the computer for normal activities!

Basic information

The default file permissions structure in Linux is fairly simple, but more than adequate for most situations. For each file or folder, there are three permissions that can be granted, and three entities (owner/creator, group, others/world) to which they are granted. The permissions are:

Read permission means that data can be read from the file; it also means the file can be copied. If you don't have read permission for a directory you can't even see the names of files listed in it.

Write permission means that the file or folder can be changed, appended, or deleted. For directories, it specifies whether a user can write to files in the directory.

Execute permission means whether or not the user can run the file as a script or program. For directories, it determines whether or not the user can enter and make it the current working directory.

Every file and folder acquires a single user designated as its owner when it is created on the system. (Note that if you move a file from another partition where it has a different owner, it will keep the original owner; but if you copy and paste it, it will be assigned to you.) It also has a single group designated as its group, by default the group to which the owner belongs. The permissions you grant to others affect everyone who isn't the owner or in the owning group.

NOTE: For advanced users, there are additional special attributes beyond read/write/execute that can be set: sticky bit, SUID, and SGID. For more information, see Links and Guides for Section 10.2.

Viewing, setting and changing permissions

Dolphin

To view or change a file's permissions in KDE, right-click the file and select Properties. Click the Permissions tab. Here you can set the permissions granted to the owner, group, and others using the pull-down menus. For some files (like scripts, for instance), you need to check the box to make them executable, and for folders you can check a box to limit the deletion of files inside it to the owners. If necessary, you can click Advanced Permissions and see the permissions grid for the file.

NOTE: you must be operating as root to change the permission of a file or directory whose owner is root.

MUser

The MEPIS User Assistant is an easy way to add or delete a user. In addition, it can restore default values for groups and memberships.

KUser

KUser is part of KDE and can be reached by clicking Start Menu > System > KUser and supplying the root password. It allows detailed control of a Users account. The main screen has two tabs, one for users and the other for groups; above them sits a toolbar and on top a menu bar. Here are the icons on the toolbar:

The first three buttons in the toolbar have to do with user management (default tab): add user, edit user, and delete any user highlighted. When you add a user, you will see this dialog box:

The second three are used with similar functions for group management (Groups tab), and allow you to decide who belongs to each group. This can be important for access to hardware, as the following example shows:

Sometimes a program needs to have a user registered before it will operate correctly. Let's take an example with the photo organizer DigiKam, which can be fussy about this. According to the directions on the DigiKam home page, the username should be added to the user group “camera” but that group is not listed. Here's how you would do that:

Click on the Groups tab, and confirm that there is no group name “camera.”

Click on the add group icon, or on the menu bar Group >Add...

In the dialogue box that pops up, type camera as Group name.

Highlight your username in the column on the right, then click the middle Add... button to move your username into the column Users in Group.

Click OK.

The Group tab now includes the group “camera” with your username.

CLI commands

Although Dolphin and KUser cover most daily situations, sometimes it can be preferable to deal with the command line. Basic permissions are represented by r (read), w (write) and x (execute).

To view permissions of a file on the command line, type this:

ls -l NameOfFile

The -l switch will cause the file to be list in long format, displaying its permissions among other information. Here is an example of what the user "newbie" might see for the Firefox profiles.ini file:

The bolded "rw-r--r--" bit right after the opening dash (indicating it is a regular file) contains read/write/execute permissions for owner, group and others: 9 characters total. Here it shows us that the owner has read and write but not execute (rw-), but the group and others can only read (r--). The owner in this case is specified to be "newbie" who belongs to the group "users".

If for some reason it was necessary to change the ownership of this file to root using the command line, you would use the chown command like this:

Links and Guides for Section 10.2

10.3: Configuration files

With only rare exceptions, program and system settings on MEPIS Linux are stored in discrete plaintext configuration files; there is no “Registry” which requires special tools to edit. Most configuration files are just simple lists of parameters and values which are read by programs when they launch to determine their behavior.

User config files

Files that hold individual user settings (such as high scores for your games, or the layout of your desktop) are stored within a Users home directory, typically as a hidden file or directory, and can only be edited by that user or by root. These personal configuration files are actually less often edited directly than system files because most of the user configuration is done graphically through the applications themselves. When you open an application and click Edit >Preferences, for example, your selections are written to a (usually hidden) configuration file in your user directory. Likewise in Firefox, when you type about:config in the address bar, you are editing the hidden configuration files.

System config files

Files that hold system-wide configurations or defaults (such as the file that determines which services automatically launch during boot up) are largely stored in the /etc/ directory and are only editable by root. Most of these files are never touched directly by regular users, such as these for instance:

/etc/rc.d/rc5.d — Contains files to control runlevel 5 into which MEPIS boots after login.

/etc/sysconfig/keyboard — Used to configure the keyboard.

/etc/network/interfaces — Defines internet interfaces on the system.

Some configuration files can contain just a few lines, or even be empty, while others may be quite long. The important point is that if you are looking for a configuration file for an application or process, head for the /etc directory and look around.

Example

We already looked at editing the configuration file /etc/fstab a couple of times earlier, so let's look at a different example here. Sound problems can be solved with a number of grahical and command-line tools, but once in a while a user needs to edit directly the system-wide configuration file. For many systems, this will be /etc/modprobe.d/snd-hda-intel.conf. It is a simple file whose top paragraph looks like this:

# some chips require that the model be set manually
# for example asus g71 series may need model=g71v
options snd-hda-intel model=auto

To try to get sound, you might decide to substitute the exact information about the sound model in place of the word “auto.”. To find out your sound model, you could open a konsole and type:

lspci | grep Audio

The output will depend on the system, but it will take the following form:

Links and Guides for Section 10.3

10.4: Runlevels

MEPIS Linux boots up by executing the program init. After completing the boot process, init
executes all start scripts in a directory specified by the default runlevel (this runlevel is given by the entry for id in
/etc/inittab). Like most other Linux versions, MEPIS has 7 runlevels:

MEPIS defaults to runlevel 5, therefore any init scripts set up in the level 5 config file will run at boot.

Use

Understanding runlevels can be handy. When users have a problem with X Window Manager, for instance, they can not work on it on the default runlevel 5, because as we just saw that is the level where X runs. But they can drop to runlevel 3 where they can work to fix things by opening a terminal, becoming root, and typing:

telinit 3

Once you are out of X and looking at a prompt, login with your normal username and password. To get back to the login screen, become root and
type:

telinit 5

Other useful commands when you are looking at the prompt on runlevel 3 include:

halt (as root) — shuts the machine down.

reboot (as root) — reboots the machine.

[application command] — will run that application if it is not graphical.

It is equally possible to boot to runlevel 3 by merely adding the number three at the end of the boot options on the GRUB screen. From there you can simply type:

Links and Guides for Section 10.4

10.5: The Kernel

Introduction

Last place in this Users Manual goes to the first and most important element of MEPIS Linux: the Linux kernel. Every Linux version (distro) uses some version of the kernel, which was first developed and is still maintained by Linus Torvalds, with input from many other programmers around the world.

The following diagrams and descriptions of the GNU/Linux kernel come from the Anatomy of the Linux kernel and gives the average user a clear sense of the kernel's place in the Linux OS:

At the top is the user, or application, space. This is where the user applications are executed. Below the user space is the kernel space. Here, the Linux kernel exists.

There is also the GNU C Library (glibc). This provides the system call interface that connects to the kernel and provides the mechanism to transition between the user-space application and the kernel. This is important because the kernel and user application occupy different protected address spaces. And while each user-space process occupies its own virtual address space, the kernel occupies a single address space.

The kernel itself has a number of components that include process management, memory management, network stack (definition of a particular group of protocols along with the software to implement them), virtual file system, and device drivers. The largest of these by far is the collection of device drivers that are necessary to make your hardware usable.

Kernel versions

The Linux kernel is in constant development, so it uses a version numbering system to keep track. MEPIS Linux 11 is released using the kernel 2.6.36, but that will change over time. To find out your current major kernel version name, open a terminal and type:

$ uname -r

You will see a result something like 2.6.36-1-mepis-smp (32bit) or 2.6.36-1-mepis64-smp (64bit). The MEPIS kernel also has an internal version number that you can see by looking on the "Installed files" tab of the current kernel entry in Synaptic.

Unlike other software on your system, the kernel is not upgraded automatically except below the minor revision level (indicated by the third number in the kernel name). To upgrade the kernel when a new one becomes available in the repos, follow this procedure:

Open Synaptic as root and search on the word “linux-image”.

Look at the results carefully, and install the image marked upgradeable that has the word "mepis" attached and the next higher version number.

Such updates (only internal version number changes) can be installed without endangering the reboot process. Kernel upgrades, where the major number changes will show up as a new package instead of an upgrade in Synaptic, should be approached with caution. They can be problematic, and may require manual editing of GRUB (see Wiki).

To solve particular problems, advanced users sometimes make use of kernel patches. A patch is program that updates files according to instructions contained in a separate file, called a patch file. The patch file consists of a list of differences that can be run to change the original file. For details, follow the Wiki link below.

Advanced users sometimes compile and install their own kernel, starting with the kernel source code. The motivation for doing this can range from pure fun to practical goals such as to produce a kernel optimized for a certain architecture and use. Although the procedure is complicated, detailed directions can be found in the MEPIS Wiki if needed.

Kernel headers

In order to compile some programs you might need to have kernel headers, which are C files that define structures and constants that are needed for building most standard programs. Some programs ask for kernel sources, but most often the headers are sufficient. They may be installed by default but, if not, you can find them in Synaptic, but you have to be careful to match the headers to your kernel version. For this reason, it is actually somewhat easier to open a terminal, become root, and type:

apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)

This code will enter automatically the number of your working kernel and fetch the appropriate headers.

Kernel panic and recovery

A kernel panic is a relatively rare action taken by the MEPIS Linux system when it detects an internal fatal error from which it cannot safely recover. It can be caused by a number of different factors that range from hardware problems to a bug in the system itself. When you get a kernel panic, try rebooting with the MEPIS Linux LiveDVD, which will overcome temporarily any software problems and hopefully allow you to see and offload your data. If that doesn't work, then unplug all unnecessary hardware and try again.

Your first concern is to access and secure your data. Hopefully, you have it backed up somewhere. If not, you can use one of the data recovery programs such as testdisk or ddrescue that are supplied with MEPIS Linux (details in the Wiki). Your last resort is to take your harddrive to a professional recovery business.

There are a number of steps you might have to take to recover a functional MEPIS Linux system once you have your data safe, although ultimately you may have to reinstall using the LiveDVD. Depending on the type of failure, the following steps may be undertaken:

Remove packages that broke the system.

Reinstall the X config file.

Reinstall GRUB.

Reset the root password.

Reinstall MEPIS.

Be sure to ask on the forum.mepiscommunity.org if you have any questions about these procedures.

11: More resources

If you are looking for something that is not covered in this Manual, these MEPIS resources are available for more help.

MEPIS Community website

Built and maintained by members of the MEPIS community, this website has links to nearly all aspects of MEPIS Linux online. Designed to be the primary bookmark for the MEPIS Linux user, it contains not only links to other MEPIS-related websites, but up-to-date news on MEPIS Community Projects —such as the Community Software Repository and the MEPIS Torrent Team— that are available nowhere else. Available in five languages.

Wiki

The MEPIS Wiki contains a great deal of other material. As an ongoing product of volunteer users, it can be more up-to-date and detailed than the Manual, while also needing constant updating. Here's how to find what you're looking for:

Follow the structure by drilling down in the four areas laid out on the Main Page:

Getting Started: intended to provide new MEPIS users with the basic tools to get their system up and running.

General Knowledge Database: intended to provide users with more advanced tools to understand and use their MEPIS system.

Help and Guides: self-explanatory title, there is great stuff here for MEPIS users.

Wiki Issues: topics pertaining to the Wiki itself.

Consult Special Pages:

Click on the Wiki Categories link in the left panel, and select your topic of interest. This is a very useful but often overlooked way to find answers to your questions.

If you are looking for something added recently, click on the Recent Changes link.

Click on the link Special pages for other possible aids.

Forums

MEPIS Linux users have a number of forums at their disposal:

forum.mepiscommunity.org: A friendly community forum for every level of knowledge, from newbie to expert.

LinuxQuestions.org: A venerable Linux forum that has a section dedicated to MEPIS.

See the Links and Guides section at the bottom of the page for all the above.

Forum protocol

To get the answer you are seeking on any of these forums, please try to follow these procedures:

Do some research on your own, reading the Wiki and using the search engines.

Use meaningful, specific subject headers so people know what you are talking about. “PLEASE HELP ME” is not going to
get you much attention, whereas “MEPIS problems with HP scanner” is much more likely to attract people who can help.

Describe carefully your hardware (see Section 5.1) and the sequence of actions that led to the problem(s).

Remain courteous: these forums are staffed by volunteers who give of their time, knowledge, and expertise for the sole reason of
wanting to help--the simple words "thank you" can do wonders.

Search engines

A number of search engines can be used for more help:

Wiki search engines:

Basic search: type what you are looking for into the search box in the left panel and hit return.

Detailed search: click on the Custom search lin in the left panel. This will take you to page powered by a custom Google search
that will search the entire Wiki for whatever you enter.

Mepis.org search engine -- good tool that gives you access to all the older discussions and announcements published on the main MEPIS site. Be careful that the information you find applies to your version of MEPIS.

forum.mepiscommunity.org search engine -- another good tool on this community site.

Google or another universal search engine -- you need to be careful about suitability of results, but these can be
particularly useful for tracking down drivers, error messages, hardware specs, etc.

NOTE: much of the Linux documentation on the web is out-of-date or unsuitable for MEPIS Linux, and could actually do more
harm than good to your system! Ask on the MEPIS community forum, if you are not certain whether or not an internet tip is applicable to
MEPIS.

12: Glossary of common terms

Introduction

Linux terms can be confusing and offputting at first, so this Glossary provides a list of the ones used in this Manual to get you started. For more help on the terms used in the Linux computer world, see Links and Guides.

If you reached this page by clicking on a green glossary link, use your browser's [<—] back button to return you to your previous page.

Terms

applet: A program designed to be executed from within another application. Unlike an application, applets cannot be executed directly from the operating system.

backend: Also back-end. The backend includes the various components of a program that process the user input entered through the frontend. See also frontend.

backport: Backports are new packages that have been recompiled to run on a released distribution in order to keep it up-to-date.

BASH: The default shell on most Linux systems as well as on Mac OS X, BASH is an acronym for Bourne-again shell. For more information, see Links and Guides at the bottom of the page.

BitTorrent: Also bit torrent or torrent. A method invented by Bram Cohen to distribute large files without the need for a single individual to provide the hardware, hosting and bandwidth resources required.

Bootloader: Program that initially chooses an operating system to load after the BIOS has finished intializing the hardware. Extremely small in size. the bootloader's only job is to hand contol of the computer over to the Operating System's kernel. Advanced bootloaders offer a menu to choose between several installed operating systems.

chainloading: Also chain loading. Instead of directly loading an operating system, a boot manager like GRUB can use chain loading to pass control from itself to a boot sector on a hard disk partition. The target boot sector is loaded in from disk (replacing the boot sector from which the boot manager itself was loaded) and the new boot program is executed. In addition to when it is necessary, as in booting Windows from GRUB, the advantage to chainloading is that each operating system on the hard disk drive —and there could be dozens— can be responsible for having the correct data in it's own boot sector. So GRUB residing in the MBR need not be rewritten every time there are any changes. GRUB can simply chainload the relevant information from the boot sector of a given partition whether it has changed or remained the same since the last boot time.

cheat code: Codes can be entered under "Boot Codes" (at the bottom of the screen where the cursor is blinking) when booting a SimplyMEPIS LiveDVD or LiveUSB to change the booting behavior. They are used to pass options to the MEPIS operating system to set parameters for particular environments. An example is “vga=normal” which tells the system to disable the default resolution, often used for older monitors.

cloop error: A failure to read a block of compressed data. CLOOP
is shorthand for compressed loopback device, a linux kernel module that allows a compressed filesystem to be read, such as is used on a MEPIS LiveDVD.

command line interface (CLI): Also known as console, Konsole, terminal, command prompt, shell, or bash. This is a UNIX-style text interface, which MS-DOS was also designed to resemble. A root console is one where administrative privileges have been acquired after entering the root password.

desktop environment: The software which provides a graphical desktop (windows, icons, desktop, task bar, etc) for an operating system user. MEPIS integrates the KDE desktop and configures it to feel familiar to both Windows® and Mac OS X® users.

disk image: A file containing the complete contents and structure of a data storage medium or device such as a hard drive or DVD. See also ISO.

Distribution: A Linux Distribution, or “distro”, is a particular packaging of the Linux kernel with various GNU software packages, and different desktops or window managers. Since —unlike the proprietary code used in the Microsoft and Apple OS's— GNU/Linux is Free, Open-Source Software, literally anyone in the world who has the ability can freely build on what has been done and innovate a new vision of a GNU/Linux operating system. MEPIS Linux is a distro based on the Debian Linux family.

file system: Also filesystem. This refers to the way that files and folders are logically arranged on a computer's storage devices so they may be found by the operating system. It can also refer to the type of formatting on a storage device, such as the common Windows formats NTFS and FAT32, or the Linux formats ext3, ext4 or ReiserFS, and in this sense refers to the method actually used to encode binary data on the Hard Disk Drive, floppy, flash drive, etc.

free-as-in-speech: The English word “free” has two possible meanings: 1) without cost, and 2) without restrictions. In part of the open-source software community, an analogy used to explain the difference is 1) “free” as in beer vs. 2) “free” as in speech. The word freeware is used universally to refer to software that is simply without cost, whereas the phrase free software loosely refers to software that is more properly called open-source software, licensed under some type of open source license such as the GPL.

frontend: Also front-end. The front-end is the part of a software system that interacts directly with the user. See also backend.

GPL: The GNU General Public License. This is a license under which many open-source
applications are released. It specifies that you may view, modify, and redistribute the source code of applications released under it, within certain limits; but that you may not distribute the executable code unless you also distribute the source code to anyone who asks for it.

Graphical User Interface (GUI): This refers to a program or operating system interface that uses pictures (icons, windows, etc), as opposed to text (command-line) interfaces.

home directory: One of the 17 top-level directories branching from the root directory in MEPIS Linux, /home contains a subdirectory for every registered user of the system. Within each Users home directory s/he has full read-write privileges. Further, most of the user-specific configuration files for various installed programs are stored in hidden subdirectories within the /home/username directory —as is downloaded email. Other downloaded files usually go by default into the home/username/Documents or /home/username/Desktop subdirectories.

IMAP: The Internet Message Access Protocol is an protocol that allows an e-mail client to access a remote mail server. It supports both on-line and off-line modes of operation.

interface: A point of interaction between computer components, often referring to the link between a computer and a network. Examples of interface names in MEPIS Linux include WLAN (wireless) and eth0 (basic wired).

ISO: A disc image following an international standard that contains data files and filesystem metadata, including boot code, structures, and attributes. This is the normal method for delivering Linux versions such as MEPIS over the Internet. See also disk image.

kernel: The layer of software in an operating system that interacts directly with the hardware.

LiveCD/DVD: A bootable compact disc from which one can run an operating system, usually with a complete desktop environment, applications, and essential hardware functionality. In 2003, MEPIS was the first distribution of Linux to include a GUI-based Installer application on the desktop of a fully functional LiveCD, so a separate Installation CD was no longer needed. Simultaneously, MEPIS was also the first Linux to include GUI-based tools, now called Assistants, on the LiveCD to help a user repair a broken system.

LiveUSB: A USB flash drive on which an operating system has been loaded in such a way that it can be booted and run. See LiveDVD.

MBR: Master Boot Record: the first 512-byte sector of a bootable hard disk drive. Special data written to the MBR enables the computer's BIOS to pass the boot process off to a partition with an installed operating system.

md5sum: A program that calculates and verifies a file's data integrity. The MD5 hash (or checksum) functions as a compact digital fingerprint of a file. It is extremely unlikely that any two non-identical files will have the same MD5 hash. Because almost any change to a file will cause its MD5 hash to also change, the MD5 hash is commonly used to verify the integrity of files.

mirror: Also mirror site. An exact copy of another Internet site, commonly used to provide multiple sources of the same information to supply reliable access to large downloads.

module: Modules are pieces of code that can be loaded and unloaded into the kernel upon demand. They extend the functionality of the kernel without the need to reboot the system.

mountpoint: The place on the root filesystem where a fixed or removable device is attached (mounted) and accessible as a subdirectory. All computer hardware needs to have a mountpoint in the filesystem to be usable. Most standard devices such as keyboard, monitor and your primary hard disk drive are mounted automatically at boot.

NTFS®: Microsoft's New Technology File System debuted in 1993 on the Windows NT Operating System, geared to business networks, and with revisions entered the mainstream Windows users' desktop computers in later versions of Windows 2000. It has been the standard file system since Windows XP was introduced in late 2001. Unix/Linux-oriented folk say it stands for "Nice Try File System."

open-source: Software whose source code has been made available to the public under a license that allows individuals to modify and redistribute the source code. In some cases, open-source licenses restrict the distribution of binary executable code. For more information visit the Open Software Initiative (link below).

package: A package is a discrete, non-executable bundle of data that includes instructions for your package manager about installation. A package doesn't always contain a single application; it might contain only part of a large application, several small utilities, font data, graphics, or help files.

package manager: A package manager such as (Synaptic or Gdebi) is a collection of tools to automate the process of installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing software packages. See 7.2: Synaptic Software Package Manager

Panel: The panel in KDE (Kicker in KDE 3.5) that appears by default at the bottom of the screen and contains navigation icons, open (minimized) programs and system notifications. It is highly configurable, and can include a utility to switch between any of several desktops you can run simultaneously, if your primary desktop surface tends to get cluttered with open programs. Section 3.4

port: A virtual data connection that can be used by programs to exchange data directly, instead of going through a file or other temporary storage location. Ports have numbers assigned for specific protocols and applications, such as 80 for HTTP, 5190 for AIM, etc.

repo: See repository.

repository: A software repository is an internet storage location from which software packages may be retrieved and installed via a package manager. In MEPIS Linux, the repository list file (/etc/apt.sources.list) is typically modified through the default package manager Synaptic.

root: Root has two common meanings in Unix/Linux OSs, and they are intimately connected, but the distinction is important to understand. The root filesystem is the basic logical structure of all the files the operating system can access, whether programs, processes, pipes or data. It should follow the Unix Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, which specifies where in the hierarchy to locate all types of files.

The second meaning of root is the computer user who owns the root filesystem —and so has all permissions necessary to do anything to any file. While it is sometimes necessary to temporarily assume the powers of the root user to install or configure programs, it is dangerous and violates the basic security structure of Unix/Linux to log in and operate as root unless absolutlely necessary. In a command line interface, a regular user can temporarily become root by issuing the command su then entering the root password.

runlevel: A runlevel is a preset operating state on a Unix-like operating system. A system can be booted into any of several runlevels, each of which is represented by a single digit integer. Each runlevel designates a different system configuration and allows access to a different combination of processes (i.e., instances of executing programs). See Section 10.4: Runlevels

script: An executable text file, containing commands in an interpreted language. Usually refers to BASH scripts which are used extensively “under the hood” of the Linux operating system, but other languages may be used as well.

session: A login session is the period of activity between a user logging in and logging out of a system. In MEPIS Linux, this typically indicates the lifetime of a particular user "process" (the program code and its current activity) that KDE invokes.

source code: The human-readable code in which software is written prior to being assembled or compiled into machine-language code.

switch: A switch (also flag, option or parameter) is a modifier appended to a command to change its behavior. A common example is -R (recursive), which tells the computer to carry out the command through all subdirectories.

symlink: Also symbolic link and soft link. A special type of file that points to another file or directory and not to data. It allows the same file to have different names and/or locations.

tarball: An archiving format, like zip, popular on the Linux platform. Unlike zip files, though, tarballs may use one of a number of different compression formats, such as gzip or bzip2. They usually end in file extensions like .tgz, .tar.gz, or .tar.bz2. Many archive formats are supported in MEPIS with a graphical application called Ark. Usually an archive can be extracted simply by right-clicking on it in KDE.

Unix: Also UNIX. The operating system which Linux is modeled after, developed in the late 1960's at Bell Labs and used primarily for servers and mainframes. Like Linux, Unix has many variations.

window manager: A component of a desktop environment that provides the basic
maximize/minimize/close/move functions for windows in the GUI environment. Sometimes it can be used as an alternative to a full desktop environment. In MEPIS, the default window manager is called KWin, and is an integral part of the K Desktop Environment (KDE).

X: Also X11, xorg. The X Window System is a networking and display protocol which provides windowing on bitmap displays. It provides the standard toolkit and protocol to build graphical user interfaces (GUIs) on Unix-like operating systems and OpenVMS, and is supported by almost all other modern operating systems. In Mepis Linux, the X server operates on runlevel 5. See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_display_manager